PROLIFERATING CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN (PCNA) IMMUNOLABELING AS A PROGNOSTIC FACTOR IN INVASIVE DUCTAL CARCINOMA OF THE BREAST IN TAIWAN

To evaluate the prognostic significance of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in breast cancer, an immunohistochemical assay was perf ormed in 150 patients with invasive ductal carcinomas. The PCNA labeli ng index (PCNA-LI) was classified into two subgroups at a cut-off poin t of 45% that gave the best prognostic estimates for PCNA in survival analyses. Seventy-eight tumors had a low PCNA-LI of less than or equal to 45% and 72 tumors had a high PCNA-LI of >45%, A high PCNA-LI corre lated significantly with p53 overexpression (P < 0.03), positive axill ary node (P < 0.04), short disease-free survival (P < 0.001) and overa ll survival (P < 0.0002), but not with other factors. In multivariate analysis, the PCNA-LI predicted the disease-free (P < 0.008) and overa ll survival (P = 0.0007) independently. Our study indicates that the P CNA-LI has independent prognostic value. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ire land Ltd. All rights reserved.