Expression of nestin in breast cancer and correlation with histopathological grading: hospital based cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer stands as the leading and most fatal form of cancer among women worldwide, with invasion and metastasis being the primary culprits behind the majority of fatalities. Many studies have been done to understand cancer progression and metastasis in breast cancers. Nestin is type VI intermediate filament protein expressed in myoepithelial cells, endothelial cells and cytoplasm of tumor cells in breast carcinoma. Its expression is seen in multiple carcinomas and recent studies have shown that it plays a significant role in higher tumor grade, TNBC and as prognostic marker in breast cancers. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate Nestin expression in Infiltrating ductal carcinoma of breast and investigate possible association between Nestin expression and clinicopathological parameters including histological grading and immunohistochemical expression of ER, PR, Her2 and Ki67.