Effects of preoperative chemotherapy on apoptosis of breast carcinoma at the advanced stage / 临床与实验病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

To determine the effect of pre-operative chemotherapy on apoptosis in breast cancer and to evaluate its signif icance as a prcgnostic marker. MethodsPatients with breast cancer were divided into preoperative chemotherapy group (40 cases)and control group (42 cases). Two groups were analyzed for the appearance of apoptosis by using TUNEL method and electron mi croscope in tissue sections. ResultsApoptosis occurred in 92.5 % of preoperative chemotherapy group and in 78.5 % of control group. The apoptotic indexes were 19.37 + 6.49 and 9.26 + 5.04 ( P ＜ 0.01 ) respectively. Low apoptotic index was related to disease-free survival of patients with breast cancer (P ＜ 0.01 ). ConclusionThe preoperative chemotherapy can induce apoptcsis of breast cancer and improve disease-free survival.