Prediction of nodal involvement in breast cancer based on multiparametric protein analyses from preoperative core needle biopsies of the primary lesion.

Purpose: Identification of molecular characteristics that are useful to define subgroups of patients fitting into differential treatment schemes is considered a most promising approach in cancer research. In this first study of such type, we therefore investigated the potential of multiplexed sandwich immunoassays to define protein expression profiles indicative of clinically relevant properties of malignant tumors.

Experimental Design: Lysates prepared from large core needle biopsies of 113 invasive breast carcinomas were analyzed with bead-based miniaturized sandwich immunoassays specific for 54 preselected proteins.