Impact of immunohistochemical expression of kinesin family member 18A (Kif18A) and ß-catenin in infiltrating breast carcinoma of no special type.

BACKGROUND: KIF18A is a regulator of the cell cycle that stimulates the proliferation of cancer cells. The Wnt/ß-catenin pathway is involved in different issues' carcinogenesis and is being examined as a therapeutic target. The relationship between KIF18A and ß-catenin in breast cancer was not previously investigated. Therefore, this work aims to study the immunohistochemical expression and correlation of KIF18A and ß-catenin in breast-infiltrating duct carcinoma (IDC) and their relation to prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Slides cut from paraffin blocks of 135 IDC and 40 normal breast tissues were stained by KIF18A and ß-catenin antibodies. KIF18A cytoplasmic or nucleocytoplasmic staining and ß-catenin aberrant expression either nucleo-cytoplasmic or cytoplasmic staining were considered. RESULTS: Normal breast tissue and IDC showed a significant difference regarding KIF18A and aberrant ß-catenin expression. High KIF18A and ß-catenin H score values were associated with poor prognostic factors such as high grade, advanced stage, distant metastasis, high Ki67 status, and Her2neu-enriched subtype. There was a significant direct correlation between KIF18A and ß-catenin as regards percent and H score values. Prolonged overall survival (OS) was significantly associated with mild intensity and low H score of KIF18A, and low ß-catenin H score. CONCLUSIONS: KIF18A could be involved in breast carcinogenesis by activating ß-catenin. Overexpression of KIF18A and aberrant expression of ß-catenin are considered proto-oncogenes of breast cancer development. KIF18A and ß-catenin could be poor prognostic markers and predictors of aggressive behavior of breast cancer.

EpCAM, Ki67, and ESM1 Predict Hepatocellular Carcinoma Recurrence After Liver Transplantation.

Liver transplantation (LT) is a good therapeutic decision, cures hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and promotes survival of cases with unrespectable HCC based on the Milan criteria. HCC still recur after LT. Identifying high risk tissue markers that predict recurrence becomes important for LT decision-making. Little is known regarding use of tissue expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) to predict HCC recurrence. This study investigates the role of EpCAM, Ki67, and endothelial-cell-specific molecule-1 (ESM1) as immunohistochemical markers to predict HCC recurrence after LT. It included 52 explanted HCC tissues from Egyptian patients who had undergone LT for HCC according to Milan criteria. Immunohistochemical staining was done on paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed tissue sections. HCC recurrence occurred in 13.5% cases. Positive EpCAM expression in HCC, was significantly associated with HCC recurrence, ( P =0.011), achieving 71.43% sensitivity, 84.44% specificity and 78.8% accuracy in predicting recurrence. High Ki67 percentage was significantly associated with HCC recurrence, ( P =0.005), achieving 57.14% sensitivity, 86.67% specificity and 82.69% accuracy in predicting HCC recurrence. ESM1 showed significant association with HCC recurrence ( P =0.041), with 71.43% sensitivity, 71.11% specificity and 71.15% accuracy in predicting HCC recurrence. EpCAM score and Ki67 percentage showed positive correlation. In conclusion, it is suggested that large tumor size (≥3 cm), advanced pathologic staging and Ki67 could be stratified as high risk predictors of HCC recurrence after LT. Although higher classes of Child-Turcotte-Pugh classification, high serum alpha-fetoprotein, microvascular invasion, positive EpCAM and ESM1 are stratified as lower risk predictors of HCC recurrence after LT.