Potential utility of telomere length assessment in breast cancer in a diagnostic histopathology setting
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2023
Abstract
Introduction: Telomeres shorten with cell cycling but are restored above mortality threshold in many cancers making them potentially exploitable for differentiating malignant from benign tissues, and for cancer evaluation. Materials and Methods: We assessed telomeres in a diagnostic histopathology setting using quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridisation on 33 fibroadenoma (FA) and 73 invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (IBC-NST) (prototypes of benign and malignant breast tumours, respectively) with paired benign, non-lesional breast tissues (BNL). Telomere lengths were expressed as telomere/chromosome-2-centromere ratio (TCR). The telomere length cut-off for malignancy was also determined. Results: Mean TCR of IBC-NST was significantly shorter than FA and BNL (p<0.001). Mean TCR of FA was shorter than BNL but not significantly (p>0.05). TCR cut-off for IBC-NST based on FA was =0.29 (sensitivity=75.3%; specificity=78.8%), and =0.30 based on BNL (sensitivity=76.7%; specificity=89.0%). TCR of IBC-NST did not differ in relation to histological grade, nodal and hormonal status (p>0.05) but was significantly shorter in HER2-overexpressing cancers (p<0.05). Conclusion: We have demonstrated a first-step to the development of methodology -based cut-off values of mean telomere length for distinguishing benign from malignant breast tissues. Telomere length may not value-add to the standard prognostic and predictive parameters, but has potential in relation to HER2.
Keywords
Breast cancer, Benign breast, Q-FISH, Telomere length
Divisions
pathology
Funders
University of Malaya's Postgraduate Research Fund [Grant No: PG294-2016A],High Impact Research grant [Grant No: UM.0000017/HIR. C1]
Publication Title
Malaysian Journal of Pathology
Volume
45
Issue
1
Publisher
College of Pathologists, Academy of Medicine Malaysia
Publisher Location
UNIV MALAYSIA, FAC MEDICINE, DEPT PATHOLOGY, KUALA LUMPUR, 59100, MALAYSIA