Polo-Like Kinase 1(PLK1) Immunohistochemical Expression in Triple Negative Breast Carcinoma: A Probable Therapeutic Target.

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed female cancer and is a major cause of cancer-related deaths in women. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined as ER, PR and HER2 negative, which are characterized by rapid progression with low survival rates with limited therapeutic choices. Polo-like kinase 1 protein acts as a cell division regulator which is highly expressed in many tumors making it a potentially valuable target for antiproliferative therapies. In this study we tried to evaluate the value of this marker as a possible therapeutic target in TNBC.

METHODS

This research studied the immunohistochemical expression of PLK1 done on 49 paraffin blocks of TNBC female patients and then correlated with the different clinicopathological parameters.

RESULTS

Our results showed high PLK1 expression in 91.9% of cases. Most of the high grade tumors showed high PLK1 high score (76.9%). All cases showing lymph node metastasis showed high PLK1 expression, implying a statistically significant correlation between PLK1 expression and tumor grade as well as N stage.

CONCLUSION

PLK1, although a negative prognostic factor, but is a promising therapeutic target for treating TNBC patients.