Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expressions of epithelial cell adhesion molecule（EpCAM） and Ki-67 in primary lesion and metastatic lymph nodes of triple-negetive breast cancer（TNBC） and their clinical significance. Methods The expressions of EpCAM and Ki-67 were examined by SP immunohistochemical stain（IHC） in 81 cases of TNBC， 43 cases of metastatic lymph nodes and 20 cases of normal breast tissues. Results The overexpression rates of EpCAM and Ki-67 were 74.1％ and 61.7％，respectively. Moreover， the overexpression of EpCAM and Ki-67 in TNBC was significantly higher than that in normal breast tissues（P＜0.05）. The overexpression of EpCAM was correlated with differentiation grade and lymph node metastasis of TNBC（P＜0.05）. On the other hand， the high expression of Ki-67 was correlated with differentiation grade， lymph node metastasis and pTNM staging of TNBC（P＜0.05）. The overexpression of EpCAM in metastatic lymph nodes was as high as in primary lesion of TNBC， but the high expression of Ki-67 in lymph node metastasis was higher than that in primary lesion（P＜0.05）. Conclusion EpCAM and Ki-67 are expressed highly both in in primary lesion and metastatic lymph nodes of TNBC. The overexpression of EpCAM and Ki-67 can be closely related with the carcinogenesis and progression of TNBC.