Schmidt Marcus, Hasenclever Dirk, Schaeffer Mitra, Boehm Daniel, Cotarelo Cristina, Steiner Eric, Lebrecht Antje, Siggelkow Wulf, Weikel Wolfgang, Schiffer-Petry Ilka, Gebhard Susanne, Pilch Henryk, Gehrmann Mathias, Lehr Hans-Anton, Koelbl Heinz, Hengstler Jan G, Schuler Martin
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Leipzig, Germany.
Clin Cancer Res. 2008 Sep 15;14(18):5849-55. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-08-0669.
Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) recently received increased attention not only as a prognostic factor in breast cancer but also as a potential target for immunotherapy. We examined Ep-CAM expression in 402 consecutive node-negative breast cancer patients with long-term follow-up not treated in the adjuvant setting.
Ep-CAM expression was evaluated by immunostaining. Its prognostic effect was estimated relative to overexpression/amplification of HER-2, histologic grade, tumor size, age, and hormone receptor expression.
Ep-CAM status was positive in 106 (26.4%) patients. In multivariate analysis, Ep-CAM status was associated with disease-free survival independent of age, pT stage, histologic grade, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), as well as HER2 status (P = 0.028; hazard ratio, 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.44). Recently, so-called triple-negative (HER-2, ER, and PR) breast cancer has received increased attention. We noticed a similar association of Ep-CAM with disease-free survival in the triple-negative group as for the entire cohort.
In this study of untreated breast cancer patients, Ep-CAM overexpression was associated with poor survival in the entire cohort and in the subgroup of triple-negative breast cancer. This suggests that Ep-CAM may be a well-suited target for specific therapies particularly in HER-2-, ER-, and PR-negative tumors.
上皮细胞粘附分子（Ep-CAM）最近不仅作为乳腺癌的预后因素受到更多关注，还作为免疫治疗的潜在靶点。我们对402例连续的腋窝淋巴结阴性乳腺癌患者进行了Ep-CAM表达检测，并进行长期随访，这些患者未接受辅助治疗。
通过免疫染色评估Ep-CAM表达。相对于HER-2过表达/扩增、组织学分级、肿瘤大小、年龄和激素受体表达，评估其预后作用。
106例（26.4%）患者的Ep-CAM状态为阳性。在多变量分析中，Ep-CAM状态与无病生存期相关，独立于年龄、pT分期、组织学分级、雌激素受体（ER）、孕激素受体（PR）以及HER2状态（P = 0.028；风险比，1.60；95%置信区间，1.05 - 2.44）。最近，所谓的三阴性（HER-2、ER和PR）乳腺癌受到了更多关注。我们注意到在三阴性组中，Ep-CAM与无病生存期的关联与整个队列相似。
在这项针对未经治疗的乳腺癌患者的研究中，Ep-CAM过表达与整个队列以及三阴性乳腺癌亚组的不良生存相关。这表明Ep-CAM可能是特定治疗的合适靶点，特别是在HER-2、ER和PR阴性肿瘤中。
