Redox status in the sentinel lymph node of women with breast cancer

Figures & data

Figure 1. Monoclonal antibody staining for cytokeratin 19 in large-core needle biopsy of breast carcinoma obtained for diagnosis. Note the intense diffuse staining at membrane and intracytoplasmic level in 100% of tumor cells.

Figure 2. Macrometastasis, micrometastasis, and isolated tumor cells in sentinel lymph nodes of women with breast cancer. (A) H&E section (×40) shows abundant clusters of epithelial cells on a fibrous stroma at an intranodal location. The clusters are larger than 2 mm. (B) H&E section (×100) shows a focus of epithelial cells on a fibrous stroma at an intranodal location measuring more than 0.2 mm but less than 2 mm. (C) H&E section (×100) demonstrates a small cluster of epithelial cells in the subcapsular region. The cluster measures less than 0.2 mm.

Table 1. Patient and tumor characteristics.

	Sentinel lymph node status
	Negative		Micrometastases		Macrometastases
Characteristic	n = 43	%	n = 13	%	n = 19	%
Age (years)
Mean	50.3 ± 1.6		50.7 ± 3.4		51.8 ± 2.5
Median	48.0		45.0		50.0
Range	31–76		35–75		35–74
Tumor histology
Ductal	39	90.7	10	76.9	16	84.2
Lobular	3	6.9	1	7.7	3	15.8
Other	1	2.3	2	15.4	0	0.0
Molecular subtypes
Luminal A	24	55.8	12	92.3	15	78.9
Luminal B	7	16.3	1	7.7	4	21.1
Her-2	3	6.9	0	0.0	0	0.0
Triple negative	9	20.9	0	0.0	0	0.0
Pathologic tumor size (cm)
Mean ± SEM	3.65 ± 0.17		3.69 ± 0.36		3.42 ± 0.28
Median	3.5		3.4		3.0
Range	2–8		2.4–7		2.4–7.5
Pathologic T classification
0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
1	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
2	39	90.7	11	84.6	17	89.5
3	4	9.3	2	15.4	2	10.5
Scarff–Bloom–Richardson grade
I	7	16.3	3	23.1	6	31.6
II	19	44.2	7	53.8	12	63.1
III	17	39.5	3	23.1	1	5.3
Hormonal status
ER+	31	72.1	13	100	19	100
ER−	12	27.9	0	0.0	0	0.0
PgR+	29	67.4	13	100	18	94.7
PgR−	14	32.5	0	0.0	1	5.3
HER-2/neu status
Negative	34	79.1	12	92.3	16	84.2
Positive	9	20.9	1	7.7	3	15.8

Table 2. Sentinel and axillary lymph node dissection characterization.

Characteristic	Sentinel lymph node status
	Negative	Micrometastases	Macrometastases
	n = 43	n = 13	n = 19
Sentinel lymph node removed
Mean ± SEM	1.19 ± 0.60	1.38 ± 0.18	1.74 ± 0.25
Median	1	1	1
Range	1–2	1–3	1–4
Axillary nodes removed
Mean ± SEM		15.40 ± 2.29	16.16 ± 1.60
Median		17.5	15.0
Range		5–30	6–33
Axillary nodes positive
Mean ± SEM		2.90 ± 1.60	2.74 ± 1.02
Median		1	1
Range		0–17	0–18

Figure 3. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (A), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) (B), and carbonyl group content (C) in negative sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs), SLNs with micrometastasis, and SLNs with macrometastasis of women with breast cancer. Results are expressed in nmol of Trolox equivalents per mg of protein for TAC, in ng of malondialdehyde per mg of protein for TBARS, and in nmol per mg of protein for protein carbonyls (mean ± SEM; n = 13–43; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ^aP < 0.05 micrometastasis versus macrometastasis).

Figure 4. Reduced glutathione (GSH) in negative sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs), SLNs with micrometastasis, and SLNs with macrometastasis of women with breast cancer. Results are expressed in ng per mg of protein (mean ± SEM; n = 13–43; *P < 0.05; ^aP < 0.05 micrometastasis versus macrometastasis).

Figure 5. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) (A), catalase (CAT) (B), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (C) activity in negative sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs), SLNs with micrometastasis, and SLNs with macrometastasis of women with breast cancer. Results are expressed as percentage inhibition for SOD, in nmol per min and per mg of protein for CAT, and in µmol per min per mg of protein for GPx (mean ± SEM; n = 13–43; **P < 0.01; ^aP > 0.05 micrometastasis versus macrometastasis).

Table 3. Oxidative stress parameters, non-enzyme and enzyme antioxidant defense systems in the sentinel lymph node (SLN) of women with breast cancer.

	Negative SLN	SLN with micrometastases	SLN with macrometastases
Oxidative stress parameters
Total antioxidant capacity (nmol of Trolox equivalents/mg of protein)	8.86 ± 0.09	9.88 ± 0.1	11.57 ± 0.1
Lipid peroxidation (ng of malondialdehyde/mg of protein)	564.8 ± 7.1	629.4 ± 10.2	497.5 ± 11.9
Protein oxidation (nmol per mg of protein)	53.0 ± 0.9	53.1 ± 1.06	48.9 ± 1.02
Non-enzymatic antioxidant defenses
GSH (ng per mg of protein)	9.4 ± 0.1	9.38 ± 0.1	8.9 ± 1.1
Enzymatic antioxidant defenses
Superoxide dismutase (percentage of inhibition)	58.9 ± 0.3	71.5 ± 0.6	72.6 ± 0.4
Catalase (nmol/min/mg of protein)	56.8 ± 0.2	72.7 ± 0.4	74.1 ± 0.5
Glutathione peroxidase (µmol/min/mg of protein)	1.63 ± 0.01	1.63 ± 0.01	1.45 ± 0.009