Research Article
Ying Wang, Xiangguo Dang, Meng
Abstract
Discuss the correlation of the expressions of PI3K, AKT2 and VEGFR-3 protein in breast carcinoma and the role of lymph node metastasis. Methods: Of the 236 breast carcinoma cases in total were selected for immunohistochemistry. The expressions of PI3K, AKT2 and VEGFR-3 protein were detected by methods immunohistochemical SP. The expressions of PI3K, AKT2 and VEGFR-3 mRNA were detected by RT-PCR. Results: The positive rates of PI3K in patients with lymph node metastasis was 71.09% (91/128), which was significantly higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis group (58.33%, 63/108, χ2=6.6802, P=0.0097) ). AKT2 and VEGFR-3 expressions were also significantly higher in lymph node metastasis group than that of the non-lymph node metastasis group, 71.09% ( 91/128) vs.52.78%, (57/108) (χ2=9.3474, P=0.0022) and 92.97% (119/128) vs. 83.33% (90/108) (χ2=5.3676, P=0.0205. Of the 236breast cancer patients, the relative expression levels of PI3K, AKT2 and VEGFR-3 mRNA in invasive ductal breast carcinoma with lymph node metastasis were0.62 ± 0.21, 0.49 ± 0.18 and 0.55 ± 0.22 respectively, significantly higher than that without lymph node metastasis0.49 ± 0.15 and 0.59 ± 0.22 and 0.49 ± 0.15,the difference between two groups was statistically significant(P=0.0475, 0.0007 and 0.0364). The linear correlation analysis showed that the relative expressions of PI3K mRNA and VEGFR-3 mRNA in breast cancer were positively correlated (r=0.5, P <0.001). Similarly, the relative expressions of AKT2 mRNA and VEGFR-3 mRNA were also positively correlated (r=0.46, P <0.001). Conclusion: The relative expressions of PI3K mRNA and VEGFR-3 mRNA in breast cancer were positively correlated. The up-regulation of PI3K and AKT2 may promote the over-expression of VEGFR-3 in breast cancer cells, induce lymphangiogenesis and promote lymphatic metastasis.