Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 expression in invasive breast carcinoma and its correlation with other clinicopathological parameters

Abstract

Background Breast cancer is the main reason for mortality due to cancer among women worldwide. Activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is known worldwide as a signature of breast malignancy stem cells. In this research, we tried to discover the variable expression of ALDH1 in diverse molecular categories of invasive breast duct carcinoma and its relation to other clinical and pathological parameters and to patient outcomes. Study design This is a retrospective study carried out on 118 samples of invasive breast duct carcinoma retrieved from the archives of Pathology Laboratory Department of Oncology Center, Mansoura University, Egypt. Patients and methods Immunostaining for ALDH1was done in addition to ER, PR, Her2, Ki67, EGFR, and CK5/6. Results We found that ALDH1 overexpression was found in 89% of cases. ALDH1 overexpression was considerably related to increased TNM staging (P=0.001). Moreover, disease-free survival was lesser in patients with ALDH1 overexpression than in patients with low ALDH1 expression. Conclusions Elevated ALDH1 expression is associated with aggressive traits as well as advanced TNM stage of breast cancer. Importantly, these discoveries may pave the way for novel cancer therapeutics based on ALDH1 inhibitors or antibodies.