Fig 1.
Immunohistochemistry of resected breast cancer tissue samples for the detection of AQP5 expression.
Photomicrographs of AQP5 immunostaining in arrayed breast cancer tissues are shown. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are presented as a comparison. Examples of weak (a and d,1+), moderate (b and e, 2+), and strong (c and f, 3+) immunoreactivity in breast cancers (d to f, respectively) and NSCLCs (a to c, respectively). Original magnification X200.
Table 1.
Demographics of the breast cancer patients with strong AQP5 expression and tumor characteristics.
Fig 2.
Prognostic implications of AQP5 expression.
To ascertain the clinical significance of AQP5-positive status, the relationship between AQP5 status and patients’ survival rates is analyzed. Remarkably, AQP5-positive cases showed a worse breast cancer specific survival rate (p = 0.008).
Fig 3.
FISH analysis for resected tissue samples from NSCLC and breast cancer patients.
In the FISH analysis, no gene amplification is identified in any of 60 NSCLCs tested, and one representative example is shown (a). In breast cancers, however, at least three of 60 cases showed evidence of gene amplification. Representative examples of negative (b) and positive cases (c and d) (green color: FITC labeled control probe, red color: rhodamin labeled AQP5 probe). Original magnification ×1000. AQP, aquaporin water channel; FISH, fluorescence in situ hybridization; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer.