Clinical significance of p27~(Kip1) expression in breast cancer at clinical stage I and II

Objective:Tumor size,lymphnode metastasis,hormone level and so on have been the prognosis predictors of breast cancer,but they are not ideal. This study is to investigate the influence of the expression of p27Kip1 in early breast cancer prognosis and its relationship with clinical feature. Methods:Archival early breast carcinomas (n=106),were analyzed for p27Kip1 expression by immunohistochemistry EnVision system using specific mono-clonal antibody. Results:The p27Kip1 protein nucleus expression was low in 61 (57.55%) of the 106 cases in early breast carcinomas,which has statistic difference from the high expression in survival rate (P0.05). The p27Kip1 protein cytosolic expression appeared in 28 (26.50%) of the 106 cases,it had worse prognosis than nucleus expression. The p27Kip1 expression level was not correlated with age,menstruation state,pathology type,tumor size,clinical stage or hormone receptor condition (P0.05),but correlated with lymph-node metastasis and histological grade (P0.05). Conclusion:Down-expression and cytosolic mislocalization of p27Kip1 has been shown in early breast cancer,nucleus expression has better prognosis,p27Kip1 may be an independent prognostic factor in early breast cancer. The expression of p27Kip1 has related with lymph node metastasis and differentiation degree.