PHILADELPHIA, May 7 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have linked a bio-marker in tissue samples to breast cancer patient outcomes.
The study, reported online in the American Journal of Pathology, found the absence of the protein caveolin-1 may predict early disease recurrence, metastasis and even resistance to the cancer drug tamoxifen.
Caveolin-1 is produced by fibroblasts in the stroma -- connective tissue surrounding cancer cells.
"The idea that a prognostic biomarker is present in the stroma rather than the epithelial cancer cell is paradigm-shifting," study leader Dr. Michael Lisanti of the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia said in a statement.
"Importantly, these findings could be developed into a diagnostic test that would not require DNA-based technologies. This inexpensive and cost-effective test would allow doctors to identify high-risk breast cancer patients at diagnosis and treat them more aggressively."
Immunohistochemistry staining was used to analyze three cores from University of Michigan breast tissue samples from 154 women diagnosed with breast cancer.
