Tumour cell membrane laminin expression is associated with basal-like phenotype and poor survival in Nigerian breast cancer

Introduction: Laminin is a glycoprotein with diverse functions in carcinogenesis including cell proliferation, invasion, metastases and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In breast cancer (BC) laminin expression is speculated to be associated with unfavourable clinicopathological and molecular characteristics. We hypothesize that laminin expression would contributed to the aggressive nature of basal like and triple negative BC phenotype observed in Black women. Methods: The expression of laminin was determined in a well-characterised Nigerian cohort of 255 BC using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry. Laminin expression was compared with clinical, pathological and survival characteristics. Results: Laminin was expressed in 146 (57.3%) cases and significantly correlated with younger age at diagnosis (p=0.005), premenopausal status (p=0.003), expression of EGFR (p=0.002), ID4 and MTA1, basal cytokeratin 5/6, p53, and triple negative tumours (all p<0.001). In addition, there was an inverse association of laminin expression with E-cadherin (p=0.03), ER and PgR (all p<0.001) and a trend with BRCA1 (p=0.05). Univariate survival analysis showed tumours positive for laminin had significantly poorer breast cancer specific survival (BCSS, p=0.009) and disease free interval (p=0.03), but not associated in Cox multivariate analysis. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that laminin expression may have important roles in the aggressive nature observed in the basal-like and triple negative molecular subtype of Nigerian BC women.

Breast self‑examination practices in Nigerian women attending a tertiary outpatient clinic.

BACKGROUND: The morbidity and mortality caused by breast cancer can be decreased by early detection with breast self‑examination (BSE). The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and the factors determining the practice of BSE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 140 women aged above 18 years who presented consecutively in a General Outpatient’s clinic in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria. This was the baseline study from an intervention study which looked at the effect of demonstration of BSE on improving Clinical Breast Examination (CBE) among two groups of respondents. Structured questionnaires were validated and administered by an interviewer and the data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12. RESULTS: The overall self-reported prevalence of BSE practice was 62.1% among the respondents. Older women (16, 76.2%), married women (63, 65.6%) and women with tertiary education (51, 68.9%) had the highest prevalence of BSE practice. Prevalence rate was highest for civil servant (25, 78.1%), P = 0.04. The practice of BSE was higher among women with a previous history of breast disease (15, 68.2%) and in respondents with a family history of breast disease (7, 63.6%), Only 11 (12.6%) performed BSE as per guidelines, which was once in a month. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of BSE was found to be high, especially in those with tertiary education and in those with a past personal or family history of breast disease. In resource‑constrained countries, BSE is a screening tool that can be employed to help reduce the breast cancer burden because routine mammography screening is not yet feasible. Women need to be informed about the when and how to perform BSE.

Uterine Roundness Index: Model Formulation and Nomogram for a Nigerian Population

This study was aimed to establish a nomogram for uterine roundness index (UTRI) for a Nigerian population. Seven hundred Nigerian girls and women in the premenarche; nulliparous; multiparous and postmenopausal groups with normal uteri were evaluated by pelvic ultrasound. The length; anteroposterior and transverse diameters of the uterus were measured and the UTRI calculated as the ratio of anteroposterior diameter to the length. The age; height; and parity of the subject were recorded. The mean UTRI +SD were 0.44457+0.0629 for premenarche; 0.5880+0.1118 for nulliparous; 0.6005+0.1046 for multiparous and 0.5269+0.1037 for postmenopausal. Pearson's correlation analysis showed significant correlation between UTRI and age; height and weight in premenarche group and weight in the nulliparous; multiparous and postmenopausal groups (p 0.05). Significant negative correlation between UTRI and age occurred only in the postmenopausal group (p 0.05). The study has established a nomogram for UTRI in a Nigeria population which will be of gynaecological importance to sonographers and referring clinicians in assessing the normality of uterine shapes and contour