The Prognostic Significance of Trophoblast Cell-Surface Antigen-2 (Trop-2) Expression in Breast Cancer

Trophoblast Cell-Surface Antigen-2 (Trop-2), a transmembrane glycoprotein, was initially identified as a surface marker for trophoblast cells. However, it has since been found to exhibit heightened expression in various solid cancers when compared to normal tissues. The exact role of Trop-2 in breast carcinomas remains a subject of debate. The current study was designed to examine the expression of Trop-2 in breast carcinomas and to correlate the findings with established prognostic clinicopathological factors. A retrospective immunohistochemical analysis was performed on one-hundred female breast carcinoma specimens, which were stained using the mouse monoclonal anti-Trop-2 antibody and the avidin-biotin peroxidase technique. Trop-2 expression was correlated with clinicopathological parameters. Trop-2 expression was observed in 72% of invasive ductal carcinoma cases. A statistically significant relationship was found between Trop-2 expression and tumor grade, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and HER2 immunostaining (P value: 0.002, 0.019, 0.045, and 0.001, respectively). However, no significant association was noted with progesterone receptor (PR) and estrogen receptor (ER) status. The elevated expression of Trop-2 in cases of invasive ductal carcinoma, along with its significant correlation with high tumor grade, stage, lymph node metastasis, and HER2 expression, indicates a strong link between Trop-2 expression and tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis in human breast cancer. These results suggest that Trop-2 may serve as a potential target for novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment of breast cancers.