Immunohistochemical expression of p53, nm23-HI, Ki67 and DNA ploidy: correlation with lymph node status and other clinical pathologic parameters in breast cancer.

Background: The different clinical evolution of breast cancer with similar pathological characteristics prompted the authors to investigate the prognostic significance of different biological markers.
Methods: Seventy-one primary breast carcinoma specimens obtained by mastectomy or quadrantectomy were examined for the determination of the p53, nm23 and Ki67 expression, with immunohistochemistry, and the DNA content, with static cytometry.
Results: p53 protein was expressed as nuclear staining in 58% of the cases and was associated with high levels of Ki67, non-diploid lesions and lymph-node status. Positive staining for nm23 was significantly correlated only with histologic grading. A predictive role in disease recurrence was demonstrated only in patients with a high Ki67 nuclear expression.
Conclusions: From these data, we may conclude that, besides all the other traditional clinical morphological parameters, a panel of different biological markers, such as Ki67 and the determination of p53 expression, may be utilized to further characterize breast cancer and its biological behavior.