Díez-Itza I, Vizoso F, Merino A M, Sánchez L M, Tolivia J, Fernández J, Ruibal A, López-Otín C
Departamento de Biología Functional, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Oviedo, Spain.
Am J Pathol. 1994 Feb;144(2):310-20.
Apolipoprotein D (apo D) is a glycoprotein involved in the human plasma lipid transport system and present at large amounts in cyst fluid from women with gross cystic disease of the breast. Apo D expression in breast carcinomas was examined by immunoperoxidase staining of a series of 163 tumors. A total of 60 (36.8%) tumors were negative for apo D immunostaining, 28 (17.2%) carcinomas were weakly positive, 33 (20.2%) were moderately stained, whereas the remaining 42 (25.8%) tumors were strongly stained with the specific antibodies. No significant correlation was found between apo D content and tumor size, lymph node involvement, or biochemical parameters such as estrogen receptors, cathepsin D, or pS2 protein. However, the finding of a significant association between apo D and menopausal status of patients or differentiation grade of tumors, with apo D values being lower in tumors from premenopausal women or in poorly differentiated carcinomas, suggested a potential value of this glycoprotein as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. Preliminary analysis of relapse-free survival and overall survival in a subgroup of 152 women with a mean follow-up of 42 months confirmed that low apo D values were significantly associated to a shorter relapse-free survival and poorer survival. According to these data, we propose that apo D in combination with other well-established prognostic factors may contribute to more accurately identify subgroups of breast cancer patients with low or high risk for relapse and death.
载脂蛋白D（apo D）是一种参与人体血浆脂质转运系统的糖蛋白，在患有乳腺大囊性病的女性的囊肿液中大量存在。通过对一系列163例肿瘤进行免疫过氧化物酶染色，检测了乳腺癌中apo D的表达情况。共有60例（36.8%）肿瘤的apo D免疫染色呈阴性，28例（17.2%）癌呈弱阳性，33例（20.2%）呈中度染色，其余42例（25.8%）肿瘤被特异性抗体强烈染色。未发现apo D含量与肿瘤大小、淋巴结受累情况或雌激素受体、组织蛋白酶D或pS2蛋白等生化参数之间存在显著相关性。然而，apo D与患者绝经状态或肿瘤分化程度之间存在显著关联，绝经前女性肿瘤或低分化癌中的apo D值较低，这表明这种糖蛋白作为乳腺癌预后因素具有潜在价值。对152名女性亚组进行的无复发生存期和总生存期的初步分析，平均随访42个月，证实apo D值低与较短的无复发生存期和较差的生存率显著相关。根据这些数据，我们提出apo D与其他已确立的预后因素相结合，可能有助于更准确地识别复发和死亡风险低或高的乳腺癌患者亚组。
