EXPRESSION OF INTERCELLULAR-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 IN INVASIVE BREAST-CANCER REFLECTS LOW GROWTH-POTENTIAL, NEGATIVE LYMPH-NODE INVOLVEMENT, AND GOOD PROGNOSIS

To understand the role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) i n tumor progression in the host, we examined ICAM-1 expression in brea st cancer by immunohistochemistry, This study included 274 female pati ents with invasive breast cancer, with a median follow-up of 98 months , The molecule was identified in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded pri mary tumors, and the relationship to clinicopathological factors and p rognosis was analyzed. ICAM-1 expression occurred in 50.3% of patients , ICAM-1 expression had negative correlation to tumor size (P = 0.003) , lymph node metastasis (P < 0.0001), tumor infiltration (P = 0.003), nuclear pleomorphism (P = 0.004), and nuclear grade (P = 0.042), Patie nts with ICAM-1-positive tumors had better relapse free and overall su rvival than those with negative tumors (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0003, res pectively), These results suggest that expression of ICAM-1 on cancer cells might have a role as a suppressor of tumor progression under the host immune surveillance system.