Abstract:

Abstract:Objective To investigate the expressions of TGFβ1/Smads signaling pathway proteins in breast cancer tissues and clarify their  relationship with the clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer. Methods The expressions of TGFβ
1,TGFβRⅠ,TGFβRⅡ,Smad2/3 and Smad4 proteins in 121 cases of breast ductal carcinoma and 21 cases of normal breast ductal epithelium tissues were detected in tissue microarray by immunohistochemistry EnVision method,and the relationship between their expressions and clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer was analyzed. Results The immunohistochemical staining results showed that the expressions of TGFβ1,TGFβRⅠ,TGFβRⅡ and Smad2/3 in breast cancer tissues were higher;and the expression of Smad4 in breast cancer  tissues was lower than that in normal ductal epithelium tissue（P<0.01）. The expression level of TGFβ1 in less than 55 years of age patients was significantly higher than that in over 55 years of patients（P<0.05）;and the TGFβ1 expression in patients with breast cancer in PR negative group was significantly higher than that in positive group（P<0.05）. The expressions of TGFβ1,TGFβRⅠ and TGFβRⅡ in patients without lymph node metastasis were significantly higher than those in patients with metastasis（P<0.05 or P<0.01）. The expressions of TGFβRⅡ and Smad2/3 had significant differences between patients with different clinical stages. The expressions of TGFβRⅡ in the patients with breast cancer in stage Ⅱa,Ⅱb and Ⅲa  were lower than that in stage 0 (P<0.01).The Smad2/3 expression in the patients with breast cancer in stageⅠ and Ⅱb  were lower than that in stage 0(P<0.01). The expression of TGFβ1 was positively correlated to the expressions of TGFβRⅠand TGFβRⅡ（r=0.46,P<0.01；r=0.44,P<0.01）. Conclusion High expression of TGFβ1/Smads proteins might be helpful markers for the diagnosis of breast cancer.It indicates that TGFβ1/S
mads proteins  can be used as indicators in judging the prognosis of breast cancer.

Key words:  TGFβ1/Smads;breast neoplasms;immunohistochemistry