Afamin expression in breast cancer

Background: Breast cancer is a collection of molecularly and clinically distinct neoplastic disease. Recent research has shown the information regarding gene expression in breast cancer could be beneficial in the designing of an optimal treatment plan and may also provide with prognostic information. The creation of tissue microarrays (TMA) allows for the rapid immunohistochemical analysis of thousands of tissue samples in parallel with minimal damage to the original blocks. This study was designed with the application of tissue microarray (TMA) to analyze the afamin status in breast cancer with the hope of elucidating the possible relationship between afamin expressions and breast cancer. Methods: Archival tissue specimens from 106 patients with primary invasive breast cancer were analyzed for afamin expression by immunhistochemical staining with TMA. Results were compared to clinicopathologic data by multivariate analysis. Results: TNM stage has shown significant relationship to the overall 5-year survival rate. However, afamin expression was not significantly related to overall five-year survival. Conclusion: Immunohistochemical staining with TMA was convenient and feasible for analyzing afamin expression status in breast cancer. Our preliminary results show that afamin expression showed no significant prognostic value in breast cancer.