• Geok-Hoon Lim, Puay-Hoon Tan, Ana Richelia Jara-Lazaro, Aye Aye Thike, Wey-Cheng Sim, Von-Bing Yap, and George Wai-Cheong Yip.
• Breast Department, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, 100 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 229899. ghlimsg@yahoo.com.sg.
• Singap Med J. 2014 Sep 1; 55 (9): 468-72.

IntroductionWhile overexpression of syndecan-1 has been associated with aggressive breast cancer in the Caucasian population, the expression pattern of syndecan-1 in Asian women remains unclear. Triple-positive breast carcinoma, in particular, is a unique subtype that has not been extensively studied. We aimed to evaluate the role of syndecan-1 as a potential biomarker and prognostic factor for triple-positive breast carcinoma in Asian women.MethodsUsing immunohistochemistry, staining scores of 61 triple‑positive breast carcinoma specimens were correlated with patients' clinicopathological variables such as age, ethnicity, tumour size, histological grade, lymph node status, lymphovascular invasion, associated ductal carcinoma in situ grade, recurrence and overall survival.ResultsSyndecan-1 had intense staining scores in triple‑positive invasive ductal breast carcinomas when compared to normal breast tissue. On multivariate analysis, syndecan-1 epithelial total percentage and immunoreactivity score showed statistical correlation with survival (p = 0.02).ConclusionThe intense staining scores of syndecan-1 and their correlation with overall survival in patients with triple-positive breast carcinoma suggest that syndecan-1 may have a role as a biological and prognostic marker in patients with this specific subtype of breast cancer.

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