Expression of Prostacyclin-Synthase in Human Breast Cancer: Negative Prognostic Factor and Protection against Cell Death In Vitro.

Endogenously formed prostacyclin (PGI2) and synthetic PGI2 analogues have recently been shown to regulate cell survival in various cell lines. To elucidate the significance of PGI2 in human breast cancer, we performed immunohistochemistry to analyze expression of prostacyclin-synthase (PGIS) in 248 human breast cancer specimens obtained from surgical pathology files. We examined patients' 10-year survival retrospectively by sending a questionnaire to their general practitioners and performed univariate analysis to determine whether PGIS expression correlated with patient survival.

Impact of mistletoe lectin binding in breast cancer.

Background: One of the most often used complementary or alternative anticancer therapeutics for breast cancer is mistletoe extract with Viscum album lectin (VAA-1) as the leading component. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between VAA-1 binding in breast cancer and disease outcome.

Materials And Methods: VAA-1 binding to either tumour cells or tumour infiltrating inflammatory cells was examined by immunohistochemical staining of paraffin tissue sections from breast cancer patients (n=226).