Poor prognostic value of proliferating cell nuclear antigen labelling index in breast carcinoma

Abstract

Aim - To investigate the association between proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunostaining and various clinico-pathological variables, and its prognostic value in breast carcinoma. Methods - A monoclonal antibody PC10 was applied to formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissue in 144 cases of primary breast cancer. PCNA immunostaining was scored by counting 1000 cells; the percentage of positive stained cells was recorded as the PCNA labelling index (PCNA-LI). Results - The PCNA-LI varied from 0-77% with a mean of 18%. When tumours were separated on the basis of the mean value, 93 had a low PCNA-LI of less or equal than 18% and 47 a high PCNA-LI of more than 18%. There was no significant correlation between PCNA-LI and all prognostic factors included in this study. Moreover, PCNA-LI failed to show any prognostic value for overall and disease free survival. Conclusion - PCNA immunostaining is not correlated with clinicopathological variables and patient survival in breast cancer.