Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 in breast cancer: analysis with tissue microarray

Background: IGFBP-3 has been reported to be growth-stimulatory. The creation of tissue microarray (TMA) allows for the rapid immunohistochemical analysis of thousands of tissue samples in a parallel fashion. This study was designed with the application of TMA to analyze the IGFBP-3 status in breast cancer with the hope to elucidate the possible relationship between IGFBP-3 expression and breast cancer biology. Materials and Methods: Archival tissue specimens from 97 patients with primary invasive breast cancer were selected. The IGFBP-3 expression was analyzed by TMA. The data of primary tumor staging, age, estrogen receptor status, lymph node status, histological grading and TNM staging were also collected. Results: There were 40 patients (41%) with 0-1 expression of IGFBP-3, 52 patients (54%) with 2 expression of IGFBP-3 and 5 patients (5%) with 3 expression in IGFBP-3. By multivariate analysis, the IGFBP-3 expression turned out to be significantly related to the overall five-year survival rate. Conclusion: The preliminary results about IGFBP-3 expression in breast cancer are intriguing and require further evaluation.