Jun 14, 1990 - and Raymond and Leong5 have also noted a correlation between vimentin ..... M, Stein H: Growth fractions and estrogen receptor in human.
American Journal of Pathology, Vol. 137, No. 5, November 1990
Copyright © American Association of Pathologists
Vimentin Is Preferentially Expressed in High-grade Ductal and Medullary, But Not in Lobular Breast Carcinomas Wenancjusz Domagala,*t Leszek Wozniak,t Jerzy Lasota,t Klaus Weber, and Mary Osbornt From the Department of Tumor Pathology, Medical Academy, Szczecin, Poland*; the Department of Oncology, Medical Academy, Lodz, Polandt; and the Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Goettingen, Federal Republic of
Germany* Two hundred sixty-two invasive breast carcinomas datingfrom 1979 to 1984 were testedfor vimentin and keratin on formaldehyde-fixed paraffinembedded sections. None of26 lobular carcinomas expressed vimentin. Vimentin expression in 10% or more of tumor cells was found in 78% of medullary (14 of 18), in 16% of ductal not otherwise specified (NOS) (35 of 214), and in two offour mucinous carcinomas. A further seven tumors showed vimentin expression in less than 1% to 100% of the cells. Vimentin was expressed in tumor cells of 30% (28 of 93) ofgrade III invasive ductal NOS carcinomas versus 7% (7 of 105) ofgrade II and 0% ofgrade I carcinomas (0 of 10). Vimentin was found to be preferentially expressed in tumors growing in broad, often anastomosing bands or sheets with extensive necrosis, scanty supportive stroma, high nucleargrade, and numerous mitoses. The authors conclude that vimentin is not detected in lobular carcinomas, but is preferentially expressed in medullary and in high-grade ductal NOS breast carcinomas. (Am J Pathol 1990, 13 7: 1059-1064)
Vimentin expression has recently been documented in tumor cells of a subset of infiltrating human breast carcinomas. Values of 12%,1 19%,2 25%,3 and 60%4 have been reported using differently fixed material and different cut-off points for the percentage of vimentin-positive cells. The clinical significance of these findings is not fully understood, although vimentin expression has recently been correlated with poor biologic prognostic indicators in breast cancer. Thus, for example, we have reported that
vimentin is preferentially expressed in breast carcinomas with low estrogen receptor and high Ki67 growth fraction2 and Raymond and Leong5 have also noted a correlation between vimentin expression and high Ki67 growth fraction. A positive correlation between vimentin and estrogen receptor-negative, epidermal growth factor receptor-positive breast carcinomas has been reported by Catoretti et al.3 Because histologically breast carcinomas constitute a heterogeneous group of tumors and the expression of vimentin in relation to histologic type, histologic pattern of growth, and grade of malignancy has not been studied in detail we set out to determine whether there is a correlation between vimentin positivity and any of these histologic indicators of prognosis.
Materials and Methods
Specimens Paraffin-embedded tissues from 262 consecutive and unselected mastectomy specimens with primary infiltrative breast cancer were retrieved from the files of the Department of Oncology, Medical Academy of Lodz, Poland, where they had been examined between 1979 and 1984. All specimens had been routinely fixed in formalin for 24 hours and subsequently in 96% ethanol for 12 to 15 hours before a dehydration series and embedding in paraffin at 560C. Two hundred sixty-two breast carcinomas were tested. All cases were reviewed histologically, and representative sections were selected for immunocytochemistry. Histologic typing was performed according to the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization and histologic grading of infiltrating ductal carcinomas was done according to Bloom and Richardson.6 The histologic diagnosis and grade for each tumor are given in Tables 1 and 2. Supported in part by a grant from the Deutsche Krebshilfe to Mary Osbom. Accepted for publication June 14, 1990. Address reprint requests to Mary Osborn, PhD, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, D-3400 Goettingen, Federal Republic of Germany.
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AJP November 1990, Vol. 137, No. 5
Table 1. Vimentin Expression and Histologic Type of Breast Carcinomas
Vimentin+ 210%
