Slit2 Expression in breast cancer and its relationship to brain metastasis

Abstract

Objective To detect the expression of Slit2 in breast tumors and its association with the breast cancer brain metastasis. Methods Immunohistochemistry staining was performed for Slit2 expression on specimens from 24 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) with brain metastasis, 71 cases of IDC without brain metastasis, 22 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and 23 cases of fibroadenoma.Results ( 1 ) The expression level of Slit2 in IDC with brain metastasis ( 13% ) was significantly lower than that in IDC without brain metastasis ( 59% ), P ＜ 0. 05. (2) The expression level of Slit2 in IDC (48%) and DCIS (59%) was significantly lower than that in adenofibroma (87%),P ＜0.05. The expression of Slit2 in IDC was lower than that in DCIS, but had no significant difference,P ＞ 0.05. (3) The expression of Slit2 was significantly higher in more than 50 year-old-group (62%) than that in less than 50 year-old-group (34%) of IDC patients, and highly related with the duration of IDC patients,P ＜0.05. No correlation was found between the Slit2 expression and the tumor size, lymph node metastasis, pathologic stage and histological grade, P ＞ 0.05. Conclusion The Slit2 expression correlates negatively with IDC brain metastasis, and positively with the age and duration of IDC patients. Slit2 could be applied as a marker in evaluating the IDC invasiveness and brain metastasis, and could be a new therapeutic target. Key words: Breast neoplasm; Slit2; Brain metastasis