Objective: To investigate the expression of the genes fragile histidine triad (FHIT), Bcl-2, and Bax, biological markers of breast infiltrating ductal carcinoma in this carcinoma and clinicopathological significance thereof.
Methods: The clinical data of 100 patients with breast infiltrating ductal carcinoma, all females, aged 435 (28 - 92), were collected. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the protein expression of FHIT, Bcl-2 and Bax in the carcinoma tissues resected during operation.
Results: The protein expression rates of FHIT, Bcl-2 and Bax in the tumor tissues were 73%, 50%, and 34% respectively. The disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of the FHIT positive patients were 81.8 months and 123.6 months, both significantly longer than those of the FHIT-negative patients (27.7 months and 74 months, both P < 0.05). The DFS of the Bcl-2-positive patients was 83 months, significantly longer than that of the Bcl-2-negative patients (45 months, P < 0.05). The mean DFS of the Bcl-2-positive patients who received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy was 54.8 months, significantly longer than that of the Bcl-2-negative patients who received postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (41.6 months). The mean DFS and OS of the Bcl-2-negative patients receiving CAF regimen were 55 months and 58.8 months respectively, both longer than those of the Bcl-2-negative patients receiving other regimens (27 months and 36 months respectively). However, the expression of Bax failed to show correlation with the prognosis of breast infiltrating ductal carcinoma.
Conclusion: Expression of FHIT and expression of Bcl-2 are positively correlated to the DFS and OS of the breast infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Bax is not predictive to the prognosis of breast infiltrating ductal carcinoma.