COMPARISON OF THE PROLIFERATION MARKERS K I-67 AND ANTI-PCNA CYCLIN IN BREAST-CANCER

In this study, the proliferation activity of 100 cases of breast cance r and 10 cases of benign breast lesions was examined by application of the Ki-67 and the PC 10-anti-PCNA antibody in combination with the AP AAP (alkaline phosphatase - anti-alkaline-phosphatase) immunohistochem ical method. A positive correlation between the Ki-67 growth fraction and the PCNA proliferation index (PCNA-PI) was found; in malignant tum ours the PCNA-PI was approximately (% lower than the Ki-67 growth frac tion. A significant difference could be found between benign (5/6%) an d malignant lesions (25/21%) as well as in cancers of different tumour type and grading. No significant differences could be evaluated with regard to tumour size or metastatic involvement of axillary nodes, whe reas relapse tumours seemed to reveal a higher proliferation index wit h increasing size. Carcinomas with hormone receptor positivity showed slightly lower proliferation indices than hormone receptor negative tu mours, but this difference proved to be of no statistical significance . This study shows that in breast tumours there is a positive correlat ion between the PCNA proliferation index determined in formaline fixed paraffine embedded tissue and the Ki-67 growth fraction measured in f rozen sections of the same tissue. Whether these parameters correlate with patient's clinical outcome remains to be further evaluated.