Table 4.
IHC analysis confirms HAX-1 overexpression in tumors
| Patient | HAX-1 | ER | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Tumor | Tumor | |||
| Cytoplasm | Nucleus | Cytoplasm | Nucleus | Nucleus | |
| 1 | 0 | - | 2 | - | + |
| 2 | 0/1 | - | 1 | - | - |
| 3 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - |
| 4 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - |
| 5 | 0 | - | 1 | - | - |
| 6 | 0 | - | 1 | - | - |
| 7 | 1 | - | 0 | + | + |
| 8 | 0 | - | 2 | + | + |
| 9 | 0 | - | 1 | - | - |
| 10 | 2 | - | 2 | - | + |
| 11 | 1 | - | 1/2 | - | + |
| 12 | 0 | - | 2 | + | + |
| 13 | 0 | - | 2 | - | - |
| 14 | 0 | - | 2 | + | + |
| 15 | 0 | - | 3 | - | - |
Immunohistochemical analysis of the 15 matched pairs of normal/tumor samples shows in most cases significant overexpression of HAX-1 in tumors. Up-regulation was observed in cytoplasm as well as nuclei of the tumor cells. Staining intensity was estimated as follows: negative = 0; weak = 1; intermediate = 2; and strong = 3. Nuclear staining was categorized as negative or weak (0-1:"-") and intermediate-strong (2-3: "+"). Strong nuclear HAX-1 staining was associated with strong ER immunopositivity. Fisher's exact test indicates that nuclear staining of HAX-1 and ER is significantly related (P = 0.01).