Tumor endothelial marker 8 expression in triple-negative breast cancer

LG Gutwein, SZ Al-Quran, S Fernando… - Anticancer …, 2011 - ar.iiarjournals.org
LG Gutwein, SZ Al-Quran, S Fernando, BS Fletcher, EM Copeland, SR Grobmyer
Anticancer research, 2011ar.iiarjournals.org
Background/Aim: Tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) is a tumor endothelial-associated
antigen that is having an increasingly recognized role in tumor biology. The expression of
TEM8 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has not yet been characterized. Materials and
Methods: We hypothesize that TEM8 is overexpressed in TNBC and in metastatic TNBC in
lymph nodes (LN) compared to normal breast tissue and normal lymphatic tissue,
respectively. We studied expression of TEM8 in cases of primary (n= 17) and metastatic (n …
Background/Aim
Tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) is a tumor endothelial-associated antigen that is having an increasingly recognized role in tumor biology. The expression of TEM8 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has not yet been characterized.
Materials and Methods
We hypothesize that TEM8 is overexpressed in TNBC and in metastatic TNBC in lymph nodes (LN) compared to normal breast tissue and normal lymphatic tissue, respectively. We studied expression of TEM8 in cases of primary (n=17) and metastatic (n=2) TNBC using immunohistochemical analyses.
Results
All cases demonstrated increased expression of TEM8 in tumor tissue compared to non-cancerous breast tissue. TEM8 was expressed at a higher level in the stroma adjacent to the TNBC in all cases, with focal immunoreactive areas within the tumor. TEM8 was not expressed in normal lymphoid tissue, but showed expression at sites of LN metastases.
Conclusion
TEM8 would appear to represent a new biologic target for designing novel diagnostic or therapeutic approaches for TNBC.
ar.iiarjournals.org