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Angiogenesis in triple-negative adenoid cystic carcinomas of the breast

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Abstract

We compared microvascular density (MVD), lymph vessel density (LVD), and the expression of hypoxia pathway-associated proteins between primary triple-negative adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast (TN-ACC) and grade-matched triple-negative breast carcinomas of no special type (TNBC). Twelve TN-ACC and 15 TNBC were investigated immunohistochemically for CD31, podoplanin (D2-40), von Hippel–Lindau protein (pVHL), and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) protein. All cases were lymph node negative (pN0). The study revealed a median MVD (CD31) of 34 vessels/mm2 (mean ± SD, 41.33 ± 6.5/mm2) in the TN-ACC subgroup and a median of 55 microvessels (mean ± SD, 54.9 ± 6.3/mm2) in the TNBC subgroup. The median LVD (D2-40) was 10.5/mm2 (mean ± SD, 11.9 ± 1.5/mm2) in the TN-ACC subgroup and 15.0/mm2 (mean ± SD, 16.9 ± 2.5/mm2) lymph vessels in the TNBC subgroup. The differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.93, P = 0.67, respectively). pVHL was detectable in all TN-ACCs whereas two cases of TNBC had less than 5% of the positive cells. HIF-1α protein expression was significantly higher in the tumor cell population than in adjacent normal cells in both subgroups (P = 0.009 for TNBC and P = 0.028 for TN-ACC, respectively), but there was no significant difference between the two tumor groups. Up-regulation of the hypoxia-induced signaling is seen in both TN-ACC and grade-matched TNBC. Despite its perceived low malignant potential, TN-ACC of the breast does not differ in the number of blood and lymphatic vessels in comparison with the grade-matched TNBC. The reported biologic differences between TN-ACC and TNBC do not appear to result from neoangiogenesis.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Ms. Mindee C. Kurtis, Creighton Medical Laboratories, Creighton University Medical Center (Omaha, NE) for excellent technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo, Bolnička 25, BA-71000, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Semir Vranic & Nurija Bilalovic

  2. Department of Pathology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA

    Semir Vranic & Zoran Gatalica

  3. Department of Gynecological Pathology and Cytology, University Clinical Hospital Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Snjezana Frkovic-Grazio

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Clinical Hospital Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Snjezana Frkovic-Grazio

  5. Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Zoran Gatalica

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  1. Semir Vranic
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  3. Nurija Bilalovic
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Correspondence to Semir Vranic.

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Vranic, S., Frkovic-Grazio, S., Bilalovic, N. et al. Angiogenesis in triple-negative adenoid cystic carcinomas of the breast. Virchows Arch 459, 377–382 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-011-1144-4

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