Objective: To investigate the expression of Apelin and Snail proteins in breast cancer and their relationship with the clinicopathological features and prognosis. Methods: The expression of Apelin and Snail proteins was detected by immunohistochemistry in 89 cases of breast cancer and 50 cases of mammary adenosis collected from January to June in 2008 at Fujian Cancer Hospital; the expression was correlated with the clinicopathological features and outcome of the patients. Results: Apelin and Snail were expressed in 42 cases(47.2%)and 36 cases(40.4%)of breast cancers, respectively, and the expression was higher than that of control group (P<0.01). The expression of Apelin was positively correlated with Snail (r=0.230, P<0.05). Apelin expression was associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM staging(P<0.05). Snail expression was associated with lymph node metastasis(P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that the prognosis of Apelin positive group was worse than that of Apelin negative group (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in prognosis between Snail negative and positive groups (P>0.05). The prognosis of Apelin and Snail in both positive groups was worse than that of Apelin and Snail both negative groups (P<0.01). Multivariate COX regression analysis showed that Apelin and TNM staging could be used as independent prognostic factors for breast cancer (P<0.05). Conclusions: Apelin and Snail are highly expressed in breast cancer, and associated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. There is a positive correlation between Apelin and Snail expression, which may suggest a role in breast carcinogenesis. The prognosis of breast cancer with expression of Apelin and co-expression of Apelin and Snail is poor. Therefore, Apelin may be used as an effective indicator to evaluate the prognosis of breast cancer patients.
目的： 探讨乳腺癌Apelin和Snail蛋白表达及其与临床病理特征和预后的关系。 方法： 收集2008年1至6月福建省肿瘤医院89例乳腺癌肿物切除标本及50例乳腺腺病标本，采用免疫组织化学法检测Apelin和Snail蛋白的表达，分析二者相关性及其与乳腺癌临床病理特征及预后的关系。 结果： (1)患者均为女性，Apelin和Snail在乳腺癌中的阳性表达例数分别为42例(47.2%)和36例(40.4%)，二者在乳腺癌中的表达均高于对照组(P<0.01)，且Apelin和Snail的表达呈正相关(r＝0.230，P<0.05)。(2)Apelin表达与淋巴结转移、TNM分期相关(P<0.05)，Snail表达与淋巴结转移相关(P<0.05)。(3)Kaplan－Meier生存曲线显示Apelin阳性组预后较阴性组差(P<0.01)，Snail阴性和阳性组预后无明显差异(P>0.05)，Apelin和Snail同时阳性组预后较Apelin和Snail同时阴性组差(P<0.01)。多因素COX回归分析显示Apelin、TNM分期可作为乳腺癌独立预后因素(P<0.05)。 结论： Apelin和Snail在乳腺癌中高表达，与淋巴结转移和TNM分期相关。两者表达呈正相关关系，可能在乳腺癌的发生发展中相互作用。Apelin阳性及Apelin和Snail同时阳性表达的乳腺癌预后较差。Apelin可作为评估乳腺癌患者预后的有效指标。.
Keywords: Breast neoplasms; Immunohistochemistry; Prognosis.