Objective: To detect the expression of VEGF and MVD count in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast to clarify the association of VEGF expression and MVD count with the clinicopathologic features. Methods: The expressi...Objective: To detect the expression of VEGF and MVD count in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast to clarify the association of VEGF expression and MVD count with the clinicopathologic features. Methods: The expressions of VEGF, ER, PR, C-erbB-2 and MVD count in 88 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of breast were examined by immunohistochemistry staining (SP-method). Results: Sixty-two out of the eighty-eight specimens of breast carcinoma (70.45%) showed positive expression of VEGF. The positive rate of VEGF in cases with lymph node metastasis was higher than that without lymph node metastasis (P〈0.05). The positive rate of VEGF in stage IIb-Ⅲ was higher than that in stage Ⅰ-Ⅱa (P〈0.05). The positive rate of VEGF in C-erbB-2 positive group was higher than that in C-erbB-2 negative group (P〈0.05). Higher expression of VEGF was observed in cases with higher tissue differentiation degree (P〈0.05). Also, significant higher MVD count was observed in cases with higher tissue differentiation degree (P〈0.01). The MVD count increased significantly with the increase of the expression of VEGF (P〈0.01). Conclusion: The result of this study suggested that in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast, angiogenesis and metastasis were mediated mainly by VEGF. The expression of VEGF and MVD might be reference predictors for the biological behavior of breast carcinoma. The antiangiogenic therapy which used VEGF as a target would become a new method to treat patients who were C-erbB-2 positive in the future.展开更多
Low-grade invasive ductal carcinoma is almost diploid, and has frequent losses of chromosome 16q, which is shared by other precancerous lesions of the mammary gland such as flat epithelial atypia (FEA), atypical duc...Low-grade invasive ductal carcinoma is almost diploid, and has frequent losses of chromosome 16q, which is shared by other precancerous lesions of the mammary gland such as flat epithelial atypia (FEA), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and lownuclear grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The genetic alterations accumulate in a stepwise fashion as the precancerous lesions progress to invasve ductal carcinoma. This supports the linear progression model of breast cancer from FEA, through ADH, to low- nuclear grade DCIS as non-obligate early events in low-grade IDC evolution. In contrast, high-grade carcinoma tends to aneuploidy with complex genetic alterations--most importantly, frequent gains at chromosome 16q. Frequent losses at chromosome 16q in low-grade IDC and gains in the same arm of the same chromosome in high-grade IDC imply that these lesions are two end outcomes of different disease processes and that they do not lie in the same continuum of a process. Therefore, low-grade and high-grade IDC are two distinct diseases with a divergent route of progression.展开更多
Breast cancer is the second leading cancer in the world. <span style="font-family:Verdana;">The long-term</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> exposure </span><span ...Breast cancer is the second leading cancer in the world. <span style="font-family:Verdana;">The long-term</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> exposure </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">of</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> some metallic compounds induces different forms of cancer, including breast cancer. Trace elements are essential metals for the physiological functions of the cell on a molecular level and also contribute </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">in</span> <span style="font-family:Verdana;">treatment</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> of many diseases. </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The aim of study was</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to compare the level of essential trace elements, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, and zinc in breast cancer patients with normal healthy adult women. Total forty-five patients (age range from 25</span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">73 years) were included in this study and divided into three groups according to three different stages of breast cancer including tumor-II, tumor-III </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">and</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> tumor-IV. Blood was collected from all participants after taking history, clinical data </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">and</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> taking consent. However, about fifteen non-cancer healthy women in </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">age</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> range from 26</span></span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">69 years were subjected to this study. The elemental concentrations were determined through atomic absorption spectrophotometer </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">subsequent to</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> microwave-induced acid digestion. The results of Na, K, Zn, Fe, Ca, were observed </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">to </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">decrease in blood samples of breast cancer patients as compared to non-cancer subjects. The results are reliable with other numerous literature reported studies, the efficiency, and deficiency of these trace metals may contribute </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">an </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">important</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> role in the progress of breast cancer.</span>展开更多
An increasing body of evidence supports a stepwise model for progression of breast cancer from ductal carcinoma in situ(DCIS) to invasive ductal carcinoma(IDC). Due to the high level of DCIS heterogeneity, we cannot c...An increasing body of evidence supports a stepwise model for progression of breast cancer from ductal carcinoma in situ(DCIS) to invasive ductal carcinoma(IDC). Due to the high level of DCIS heterogeneity, we cannot currently predict which patients are at highest risk for disease recurrence or progression. The mechanisms of progression are still largely unknown, however cancer stem cell populations in DCIS lesions may serve as malignant precursor cells intimately involved in progression. While genetic and epigenetic alterations found in DCIS are often shared by IDC, m RNA and mi RNA expression profiles are significantly altered. Therapeutic targeting of cancer stem cell pathways and differentially expressed mi RNA could have significant clinical benefit. As tumor grade increases, mi RNA-140 is progressively downregulated. mi R-140 plays an important tumor suppressive role in the Wnt, SOX2 and SOX9 stem cell regulator pathways. Downregulation of mi R-140 removes inhibition of these pathways, leading to higher cancer stem cell populations and breast cancer progression. mi R-140 downregulation is mediated through both an estrogen response element in the mi R-140 promoter region and differential methylation of Cp G islands. These mechanisms are novel targets for epigenetic therapy to activate tumor suppressor signaling via mi R-140. Additionally, we briefly explored the emerging role of exosomes in mediating intercellular mi R-140 signaling. The purpose of this review is to examine the cancer stem cell signaling pathways involved in breast cancer progression, and the role of dysregulation of mi R-140 in regulating DCIS to IDC transition.展开更多
AIM:To study the indications for sentinel lymph node biopsy(SLNB) in clinically-detected ductal carcinoma in situ(CD-DCIS).METHODS:A retrospective analysis of 20 patients with an initial diagnosis of pure DCIS by an i...AIM:To study the indications for sentinel lymph node biopsy(SLNB) in clinically-detected ductal carcinoma in situ(CD-DCIS).METHODS:A retrospective analysis of 20 patients with an initial diagnosis of pure DCIS by an image-guided core needle biopsy(CNB) between June 2006 and June 2012 was conducted at King Faisal Specialist Hospital.The accuracy of performing SLNB in CD-DCIS,the rate of sentinel and non-sentinel nodal metastasis,and the histologic underestimation rate of invasive cancer at initial diagnosis were analyzed.The inclusion criteria were a preoperative diagnosis of pure DCIS with no evidence of invasion.We excluded any patient with evidence of microinvasion or invasion.There were two cases of mammographically detected DCIS and 18 cases of CDDCIS.All our patients were diagnosed by an imageguided CNB except two patients who were diagnosed by fine needle aspiration(FNA).All patients underwent breast surgery,SLNB,and axillary lymph node dissection(ALND) if the SLN was positive.RESULTS:Twenty patients with an initial diagnosis of pure DCIS underwent SLNB,2 of whom had an ALND.The mean age of the patients was 49.7 years(range,35-70).Twelve patients(60%) were premenopausal and 8(40%) were postmenopausal.CNB was the diagnostic procedure for 18 patients,and 2 who were diagnosed by FNA were excluded from the calculation of the underestimation rate.Two out of 20 had a positive SLNB and underwent an ALND and neither had additional non sentinel lymph node metastasis.Both the sentinel visualization rate and the intraoperative sentinel identification rate were 100%.The false negative rate was 0%.Only 2 patients had a positive SLNB(10%) and neither had additional metastasis following an ALND.After definitive surgery,3 patients were upstaged to invasive ductal carcinoma(3/18 = 16.6%) and 3 other patients were upstaged to DCIS with microinvasion(3/18 = 16.6%).Therefore the histologic underestimation rate of invasive disease was 33%.CONCLUSION:SLNB in CD-DCIS is technically feasible and highly accurate.We recommend limiting SLNB to patients undergoing a mastectomy.展开更多
The present study aimed to investigate the possibility of using dual-energy computed tomography (CT) before therapy to discriminate between normal breast tissue and tumor tissue in patients with breast cancer, without...The present study aimed to investigate the possibility of using dual-energy computed tomography (CT) before therapy to discriminate between normal breast tissue and tumor tissue in patients with breast cancer, without the need to use a contrast medium. The following patient data were extracted by interview and from the hospital’s radiology information system: height, weight, age, menstrual cycle, CT images of normal tissue and tumors with or without contrast medium, and the histopathological diagnosis of the aspiration biopsy. The median age of the 43 participants was 56 years (range, 30 - 80 years). The CT values were evaluated using a clinical analytical program based on the three-material decomposition technique. Breast cancer was classified into ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, fibromatosis-like metaplastic carcinoma, and apocrine carcinoma. In all conditions, regardless of contrast medium, the CT values of tumor tissues were higher than those of normal breast tissue, indicating the effectiveness of dual-energy CT (DE-CT) in the diagnosis of breast cancer. By contrast, DE-CT showed limited potential for distinguishing ductal carcinoma in situ from invasive ductal carcinoma. There have only been a few reports regarding CT examination of breast cancer, and it is expected this study encourage the development of DE-CT imaging to improve tumor detection in patients with breast cancer.展开更多
Breast cancer,particularly Invasive Ductal Carcinoma(IDC),is a primary global health concern predominantly affecting women.Early and precise diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment planning.Several AI-based tech-...Breast cancer,particularly Invasive Ductal Carcinoma(IDC),is a primary global health concern predominantly affecting women.Early and precise diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment planning.Several AI-based tech-niques for IDC-level classification have been proposed in recent years.Processing speed,memory size,and accuracy can still be improved for better performance.Our study presents ECAM,an Enhanced Channel-Wise Attention Mechanism,using deep learning to analyze histopathological images of Breast Invasive Ductal Carcinoma(BIDC).The main objectives of our study are to enhance computational efficiency using a Separable CNN architecture,improve data representation through hierarchical feature aggregation,and increase accuracy and interpretability with channel-wise attention mechanisms.Utilizing publicly available datasets,DataBioX IDC and the BreakHis,we benchmarked the proposed ECAM model against existing state-of-the-art models:DenseNet121,VGG16,and AlexNet.In the IDC dataset,the model based on AlexNet achieved an accuracy rate of 86.81%and an F1 score of 86.94%.On the other hand,DenseNet121 outperformed with an accuracy of 95.60%and an F1 score of 95.75%.Meanwhile,the VGG16 model achieved an accuracy rate of 91.20%and an F1 score of 90%.Our proposed ECAM model outperformed the state-of-the-art,achieving an impressive F1 score of 96.65%and an accuracy rate of 96.70%.The BreakHis dataset,the AlexNet-based model,achieved an accuracy rate of 90.82%and an F1 score of 90.77%.DenseNet121 achieved a higher accuracy rate of 92.66%with an F1 score of 92.72%,while the VGG16 model achieved an accuracy of 92.60%and an F1 score of 91.31%.The proposed ECAM model again outperformed,achieving an F1 score of 96.37%and an accuracy rate of 96.33%.Our model is a significant advancement in breast cancer diagnosis,with high accuracy and potential as an automated grading,especially for IDC.展开更多
Objective To investigate the hypermethylation status of glutathione transferase P1(GSTP1)and E-cadherin(ECAD),TSGs(tumor suppressor genes)in our breast cancer samples and explore their correlation with clinicopatholog...Objective To investigate the hypermethylation status of glutathione transferase P1(GSTP1)and E-cadherin(ECAD),TSGs(tumor suppressor genes)in our breast cancer samples and explore their correlation with clinicopathological features of corresponding cancer patients.Methods One hundred and thirty-six IDC(invasive ductal carcinoma)patients were recruited for analysis and 16 fibroadenoma patients acted as control.DNA extraction and methylation-specific PCR(MSP)were subsequently performed preceded by pathological examination.Results The percentage of hypermethylated GSTP1 in carcinoma and fibroadenoma groups was 34.92% and 15.79% respectively and the percentage of hypermethylated ECAD in carcinomas and fibroadenomas was 18.00% and 0.00% respectively.Carcinoma had the highest percentage of c-erbB2 overexpression being 54.55% among the clinicopathological parameters.Conclusion Hypermethylation patterns are frequent in IDC and seem to relate to c-erbB2 overexpression,and such epigenetic change should not be neglected in fibroadenoma.Tumor methylation status in cancer patients can be determined at early stage and it may be a reference for better treatment planning.展开更多
基金This project was supported by the Science and Technology Research and Development Program of Hebei Province (No. 0527611016).
文摘Objective: To detect the expression of VEGF and MVD count in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast to clarify the association of VEGF expression and MVD count with the clinicopathologic features. Methods: The expressions of VEGF, ER, PR, C-erbB-2 and MVD count in 88 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of breast were examined by immunohistochemistry staining (SP-method). Results: Sixty-two out of the eighty-eight specimens of breast carcinoma (70.45%) showed positive expression of VEGF. The positive rate of VEGF in cases with lymph node metastasis was higher than that without lymph node metastasis (P〈0.05). The positive rate of VEGF in stage IIb-Ⅲ was higher than that in stage Ⅰ-Ⅱa (P〈0.05). The positive rate of VEGF in C-erbB-2 positive group was higher than that in C-erbB-2 negative group (P〈0.05). Higher expression of VEGF was observed in cases with higher tissue differentiation degree (P〈0.05). Also, significant higher MVD count was observed in cases with higher tissue differentiation degree (P〈0.01). The MVD count increased significantly with the increase of the expression of VEGF (P〈0.01). Conclusion: The result of this study suggested that in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast, angiogenesis and metastasis were mediated mainly by VEGF. The expression of VEGF and MVD might be reference predictors for the biological behavior of breast carcinoma. The antiangiogenic therapy which used VEGF as a target would become a new method to treat patients who were C-erbB-2 positive in the future.
文摘Low-grade invasive ductal carcinoma is almost diploid, and has frequent losses of chromosome 16q, which is shared by other precancerous lesions of the mammary gland such as flat epithelial atypia (FEA), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and lownuclear grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). The genetic alterations accumulate in a stepwise fashion as the precancerous lesions progress to invasve ductal carcinoma. This supports the linear progression model of breast cancer from FEA, through ADH, to low- nuclear grade DCIS as non-obligate early events in low-grade IDC evolution. In contrast, high-grade carcinoma tends to aneuploidy with complex genetic alterations--most importantly, frequent gains at chromosome 16q. Frequent losses at chromosome 16q in low-grade IDC and gains in the same arm of the same chromosome in high-grade IDC imply that these lesions are two end outcomes of different disease processes and that they do not lie in the same continuum of a process. Therefore, low-grade and high-grade IDC are two distinct diseases with a divergent route of progression.
文摘Breast cancer is the second leading cancer in the world. <span style="font-family:Verdana;">The long-term</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> exposure </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">of</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> some metallic compounds induces different forms of cancer, including breast cancer. Trace elements are essential metals for the physiological functions of the cell on a molecular level and also contribute </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">in</span> <span style="font-family:Verdana;">treatment</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> of many diseases. </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The aim of study was</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> to compare the level of essential trace elements, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, and zinc in breast cancer patients with normal healthy adult women. Total forty-five patients (age range from 25</span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">73 years) were included in this study and divided into three groups according to three different stages of breast cancer including tumor-II, tumor-III </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">and</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> tumor-IV. Blood was collected from all participants after taking history, clinical data </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">and</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> taking consent. However, about fifteen non-cancer healthy women in </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">age</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> range from 26</span></span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">-</span><span style="font-family:;" "=""> </span><span style="font-family:;" "=""><span style="font-family:Verdana;">69 years were subjected to this study. The elemental concentrations were determined through atomic absorption spectrophotometer </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">subsequent to</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> microwave-induced acid digestion. The results of Na, K, Zn, Fe, Ca, were observed </span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">to </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">decrease in blood samples of breast cancer patients as compared to non-cancer subjects. The results are reliable with other numerous literature reported studies, the efficiency, and deficiency of these trace metals may contribute </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">an </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;">important</span><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> role in the progress of breast cancer.</span>
文摘An increasing body of evidence supports a stepwise model for progression of breast cancer from ductal carcinoma in situ(DCIS) to invasive ductal carcinoma(IDC). Due to the high level of DCIS heterogeneity, we cannot currently predict which patients are at highest risk for disease recurrence or progression. The mechanisms of progression are still largely unknown, however cancer stem cell populations in DCIS lesions may serve as malignant precursor cells intimately involved in progression. While genetic and epigenetic alterations found in DCIS are often shared by IDC, m RNA and mi RNA expression profiles are significantly altered. Therapeutic targeting of cancer stem cell pathways and differentially expressed mi RNA could have significant clinical benefit. As tumor grade increases, mi RNA-140 is progressively downregulated. mi R-140 plays an important tumor suppressive role in the Wnt, SOX2 and SOX9 stem cell regulator pathways. Downregulation of mi R-140 removes inhibition of these pathways, leading to higher cancer stem cell populations and breast cancer progression. mi R-140 downregulation is mediated through both an estrogen response element in the mi R-140 promoter region and differential methylation of Cp G islands. These mechanisms are novel targets for epigenetic therapy to activate tumor suppressor signaling via mi R-140. Additionally, we briefly explored the emerging role of exosomes in mediating intercellular mi R-140 signaling. The purpose of this review is to examine the cancer stem cell signaling pathways involved in breast cancer progression, and the role of dysregulation of mi R-140 in regulating DCIS to IDC transition.
文摘AIM:To study the indications for sentinel lymph node biopsy(SLNB) in clinically-detected ductal carcinoma in situ(CD-DCIS).METHODS:A retrospective analysis of 20 patients with an initial diagnosis of pure DCIS by an image-guided core needle biopsy(CNB) between June 2006 and June 2012 was conducted at King Faisal Specialist Hospital.The accuracy of performing SLNB in CD-DCIS,the rate of sentinel and non-sentinel nodal metastasis,and the histologic underestimation rate of invasive cancer at initial diagnosis were analyzed.The inclusion criteria were a preoperative diagnosis of pure DCIS with no evidence of invasion.We excluded any patient with evidence of microinvasion or invasion.There were two cases of mammographically detected DCIS and 18 cases of CDDCIS.All our patients were diagnosed by an imageguided CNB except two patients who were diagnosed by fine needle aspiration(FNA).All patients underwent breast surgery,SLNB,and axillary lymph node dissection(ALND) if the SLN was positive.RESULTS:Twenty patients with an initial diagnosis of pure DCIS underwent SLNB,2 of whom had an ALND.The mean age of the patients was 49.7 years(range,35-70).Twelve patients(60%) were premenopausal and 8(40%) were postmenopausal.CNB was the diagnostic procedure for 18 patients,and 2 who were diagnosed by FNA were excluded from the calculation of the underestimation rate.Two out of 20 had a positive SLNB and underwent an ALND and neither had additional non sentinel lymph node metastasis.Both the sentinel visualization rate and the intraoperative sentinel identification rate were 100%.The false negative rate was 0%.Only 2 patients had a positive SLNB(10%) and neither had additional metastasis following an ALND.After definitive surgery,3 patients were upstaged to invasive ductal carcinoma(3/18 = 16.6%) and 3 other patients were upstaged to DCIS with microinvasion(3/18 = 16.6%).Therefore the histologic underestimation rate of invasive disease was 33%.CONCLUSION:SLNB in CD-DCIS is technically feasible and highly accurate.We recommend limiting SLNB to patients undergoing a mastectomy.
文摘The present study aimed to investigate the possibility of using dual-energy computed tomography (CT) before therapy to discriminate between normal breast tissue and tumor tissue in patients with breast cancer, without the need to use a contrast medium. The following patient data were extracted by interview and from the hospital’s radiology information system: height, weight, age, menstrual cycle, CT images of normal tissue and tumors with or without contrast medium, and the histopathological diagnosis of the aspiration biopsy. The median age of the 43 participants was 56 years (range, 30 - 80 years). The CT values were evaluated using a clinical analytical program based on the three-material decomposition technique. Breast cancer was classified into ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, fibromatosis-like metaplastic carcinoma, and apocrine carcinoma. In all conditions, regardless of contrast medium, the CT values of tumor tissues were higher than those of normal breast tissue, indicating the effectiveness of dual-energy CT (DE-CT) in the diagnosis of breast cancer. By contrast, DE-CT showed limited potential for distinguishing ductal carcinoma in situ from invasive ductal carcinoma. There have only been a few reports regarding CT examination of breast cancer, and it is expected this study encourage the development of DE-CT imaging to improve tumor detection in patients with breast cancer.
文摘Breast cancer,particularly Invasive Ductal Carcinoma(IDC),is a primary global health concern predominantly affecting women.Early and precise diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment planning.Several AI-based tech-niques for IDC-level classification have been proposed in recent years.Processing speed,memory size,and accuracy can still be improved for better performance.Our study presents ECAM,an Enhanced Channel-Wise Attention Mechanism,using deep learning to analyze histopathological images of Breast Invasive Ductal Carcinoma(BIDC).The main objectives of our study are to enhance computational efficiency using a Separable CNN architecture,improve data representation through hierarchical feature aggregation,and increase accuracy and interpretability with channel-wise attention mechanisms.Utilizing publicly available datasets,DataBioX IDC and the BreakHis,we benchmarked the proposed ECAM model against existing state-of-the-art models:DenseNet121,VGG16,and AlexNet.In the IDC dataset,the model based on AlexNet achieved an accuracy rate of 86.81%and an F1 score of 86.94%.On the other hand,DenseNet121 outperformed with an accuracy of 95.60%and an F1 score of 95.75%.Meanwhile,the VGG16 model achieved an accuracy rate of 91.20%and an F1 score of 90%.Our proposed ECAM model outperformed the state-of-the-art,achieving an impressive F1 score of 96.65%and an accuracy rate of 96.70%.The BreakHis dataset,the AlexNet-based model,achieved an accuracy rate of 90.82%and an F1 score of 90.77%.DenseNet121 achieved a higher accuracy rate of 92.66%with an F1 score of 92.72%,while the VGG16 model achieved an accuracy of 92.60%and an F1 score of 91.31%.The proposed ECAM model again outperformed,achieving an F1 score of 96.37%and an accuracy rate of 96.33%.Our model is a significant advancement in breast cancer diagnosis,with high accuracy and potential as an automated grading,especially for IDC.
文摘Objective To investigate the hypermethylation status of glutathione transferase P1(GSTP1)and E-cadherin(ECAD),TSGs(tumor suppressor genes)in our breast cancer samples and explore their correlation with clinicopathological features of corresponding cancer patients.Methods One hundred and thirty-six IDC(invasive ductal carcinoma)patients were recruited for analysis and 16 fibroadenoma patients acted as control.DNA extraction and methylation-specific PCR(MSP)were subsequently performed preceded by pathological examination.Results The percentage of hypermethylated GSTP1 in carcinoma and fibroadenoma groups was 34.92% and 15.79% respectively and the percentage of hypermethylated ECAD in carcinomas and fibroadenomas was 18.00% and 0.00% respectively.Carcinoma had the highest percentage of c-erbB2 overexpression being 54.55% among the clinicopathological parameters.Conclusion Hypermethylation patterns are frequent in IDC and seem to relate to c-erbB2 overexpression,and such epigenetic change should not be neglected in fibroadenoma.Tumor methylation status in cancer patients can be determined at early stage and it may be a reference for better treatment planning.