TAG-72 expression and clinical outcome in primary breast cancer

Clinical data of 92 patients with primary breast carcinomas previously anal ysed for the pattern of immunohistochemical expression of three distinct ca rbohydrate epitopes of the TAG-72 molecule were reviewed. The clinical outc ome of the patients after a median follow-up of 66 months was determined in 84 out of 92 patients. Clinicopathological characteristics of the tumours and clinical outcome of the patients were correlated with the TAG-72 epitop e expression. TAG-72 was expressed more frequently in patients aged more th an 50 years and in tumours of larger size, with lymph nodes metastasis, wit h low differentiation and with high proliferative activity. A statistical c orrelation was found with more advanced stages of the disease (35.7% vs 60% in stage I and in stage II-III, respectively, p=0.03). Disease-free surviv al and overall survival were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The surv ival of the patients with tumours expressing TAG-72 was not statistically d ifferent from that of patients with tumours without TAG-72 expression. Thes e data suggest that TAG-72 expression is associated with clinicopathologica l parameters of aggressiveness in primary breast cancer, but it does not ap pear to affect the clinical outcome of the patients.