Table 1.
Survival associated tissue-section-based prognostic factors and lymph node status in breast cancer.
| Prognosticator | N | Age range or median | Country | Methods | Stage/LN status of all patients | Stength of association (survival %)* | P value, type of analysis | Mean or median follow-up (months) | Reference |
| LN+ patients | |||||||||
| AgNOR | 164 | N.A. | Italy | MA | N-, N+ | DFS (42,61) | 0.0093 M | 108 | Derenzini90 |
| Bcl-2 | 107 | 56 | Belgium | IHC | N-, N+ | DFS (21,62) | <0.001 U | 91 | Hellemans55 |
| CD44 | 74 | 62 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | DSS (45,56) | 0.02 U | 84 | Joensuu158 |
| E-cadherin | 57 | 59 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | OS (36,88) | 0.0001 U | 66.5 | Elzagheid150 |
| EGFR | 404 | 53.4 | Japan | IHC | N-, N+ | DFS (50,75) | <0.0001 U | 46 | Tsutsui110 |
| ER | 705 | 54 | UK | IHC | I-IV | DFS, ReR 0.651 | 0.004 M | 62 | Rehim122 |
| HER2/neu | 106 | 59 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | OS (13,80) | 0.001 U | 67.2 | Jalava16 |
| IGF-1 | 98 | 57.1 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | OS (16,35) | 0.0286 U | 169.2 | Toropainen115 |
| Mitoses | 131 | 59 | Finland | SMI | N-, N+ | RR 3.5 | 0.0005 U | 69 | Kronqvist71 |
| Mitoses | 368 | 25–81 | MC | MAI | N+ | OS (57,83) | 0.00003 U | 60 | Simpson68 |
| P21 | 328 | N.A. | USA | IHC | N-, N+ | DFS, X2 74.61 | 0.054 M | 195.6 | Thor 37 |
| PgR | 106 | 58 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | N.A. | 0.0186 | 70 | Jalava 123 |
| SPF | 257 | 25–81 | MC | FCM | N+ | OS (70,82) | 0.026 U | 60 | Simpson68 |
| LN- patients | |||||||||
| Ploidy | 50 | 56 | UK | FCM | N- | DFS (32,71) | <0.0001 U | >120 | Yuan132 |
| Cathepsin D | 262 | 60 | Finland | IHC | N- | DFS (47,68) | <0.0001 U | 98.4 | Isola100 |
| CD44 | 237 | 56 | Holland | IHC | N-, N+ | DFS (50,75) | 0.005 U | 84 | Foekens156 |
| EGFR | 618 | 53.4 | Japan | IHC | N-, N+ | DFS, ReR 2.05 | 0.0241 M | 46 | Tsutsui110 |
| HER2/neu | 324 | N.A. | USA | FISH | N- | DFS (57,75) | 0.0077 U | 50 | Press17 |
| HER2/neu | 224 | 59 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | N.A. | N.S. | 67.2 | Jalava16 |
| Ki-67 | 89 | 60.5 | Finland | IHC | N-, N+ | OS (50,70) | 0.0297 U | 103.2 | Pietilainen78 |
| Mitoses | 516 | <55 | MC | MAI | N- | DFS (62,85) | <0.00001U | 118 | Baak69 |
| Mitoses | 232 | 59 | Finland | SMI | N-, N+ | RR 4.2 | 0.0007 U | 69 | Kronqvist71 |
| P27 | 75 | <65 | Canada | IHC | N-, N+ | DSS, ReR 0.24 | 0.03 M | 180 | Foulkes47 |
| P53 | 700 | <50 | USA | IHC | N- | DFS (53,85) | 0.0001U | 54 | Allred33 |
| PCNA | 205 | 60.5 | Finland | IHC | N- | DFS (56,80) | 0.0003 U | 141.6 | Aaltomaa84 |
| SPF | 180 | N.A. | China | N.A. | N- | N.A. | <0.001 | 60 | Zhang 96 |
Prognosticators for LN+ patients are presented first followed by those for LN- patients. The database applied was PubMed, the presented papers were published during years 1991–2005. The most significant p-values with defined survival characteristics for each marker are shown. P-values are not comparable with each other in absolute terms because also the size of the sample influences the p value. The value of prognosticators can only be compared reliably by comparing different prognosticators in the same patient material.
* The figures within the parantheses refer to the survival of 2 cutpoint-associated patient groups after median follow up. IHC, immunohistochemistry; N-, node negative; N+, node positive; MA, morphometric analysis; FCM, flow-cytometry; NA, not available; MC, multicenter study; SMI, standardized mitotic index; MAI, mitotic activity index; OS, overall survival; DFS, disease free survival; DSS, disease specific survival; RR, risk ratio; ReR, relative risk; X2, Chi square;, FISH, fluorescence in situ hybridization; N.S, not significant; M, multivariate; U, univariate.