Objective: To investigate the expression of NOEY2 gene in breast cancer tissue and its relation to clinicopathological and other molecular parameters.
Methods: The mRNA expression of NOEY2 gene was monitored in benign and malignant breast lesions by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization (ISH) with transcripted antisense RNA probes. The protein expression of estrogen receptor (ER), Ki67, p27 and p21(WAF1) in the 60 breast cancer lesions was detected by immunohistochemical method.
Results: All 6 benign lesions, and 13 (72.2%) of the 18 breast cancers were NOEY2 positive by RT-PCR. By ISH, positive NOEY2 was obtained in all 10 benign lesions but only in 31 (51.7%) of the 60 breast cancer lesions. The difference was statistically significant (P = 0.025). NOEY2 positive rate tended to decrease with the increase of histological grade. However, NOEY2 expression was negatively correlated with the status of axillary lymph nodes. The positive NOEY2 rate was 75% in those without lymph node metastasis but only 26.7% in those with metastasis (P < 0.001). No correlation with other clinicopathological parameters including ER, Ki67, p27 or p21(WAF1) were found.
Conclusion: NOEY2 gene may be related with the pathogenesis of breast cancer. A link between NOEY2 loss expression and the spreading mechanism of breast cancer may possibly exist.