Gujarat Cancer Society Research Journal

Summary Porcupine (Porcn) protein plays a crucial role for secretion and function of Wnt signaling molecules and thereby in Wnt-induced cell signaling, which further stimulates the expression of diverse cancer-related genes resulting in development of various cancers, including breast cancer. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the expression of Porcn protein in patients with primary breast carcinoma and explore their relation with clinico-pathological parameters as well as the prognostic significance. The study comprised of 160 breast cancer patients who underwent surgery as the primary treatment. The p r o t e i n e x p r e s s i o n o f P o r c n w a s d e t e c t e d b y immunohistochemical staining and analyzed using H-score method. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS and p≤0.05 were considered significant. Porcn protein was detected in 96% (153/160) of breast cancer patients with an over expression observed in 46% (73/160) of breast cancer patients. The correlation of Porcn protein with traditional clinico-pathological parameters of breast cancer revealed that the expression was significantly higher in Her2 negative patients (54%, 49/91) as 2 compared to Her2 positive patients (35%, 24/69; χ =5.749, r=- 0.190, p=0.016); while a trend of higher incidence was observed in patients with T1+T2 tumor size (48%, 65/134) as compared to 2 those with T3+T4 tumor size (31%, 8/26; χ =2.762, r=-0.131, p=0.098). However, no other significant associations were observed with rest of the breast cancer characteristics. In addition, Porcn protein failed to emerge as a significant prognosticator in breast cancer patients. Porcn protein was detected in substantial number of breast cancer patients indicating its role in malignant development. However, further studies in more number of patients are warranted for a conclusive finding.