Evaluation of Laminin Expression in Invasive Breast Carcinoma and Its Relationship with Clinicopathological Parameters

Abstract

Breast cancer progression is significantly influenced by extracellular matrix dynamics. Laminin, a key structural glycoprotein, plays a pivotal role in regulating cell adhesion, migration, and metastasis. This study aims to evaluate laminin expression in invasive breast carcinoma and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 53 cases of invasive breast carcinoma. Relevant clinicopathological data were documented, and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections were evaluated for laminin expression using manual immunohistochemical staining. The cohort predominantly comprised females with a mean age of 51.2 years, where invasive ductal carcinoma of no special type (NST) was the most common subtype. Laminin immunoreactivity was detected in 69.8% of the cases. Statistical analyses demonstrated that laminin positivity was significantly associated with older patient age (>50 years), advanced histological grade (grade 3), larger tumor size (>2 cm), and the presence of lymph node metastasis. No significant associations were detected regarding histological subtype, lymphovascular invasion, or perineural invasion. The findings suggest that laminin immunoreactivity is associated with several clinicopathological features of aggressive breast carcinoma. Its association with adverse clinicopathological features suggests a potential role for laminin immunoreactivity as a marker of tumor aggressiveness; however, further studies are needed to establish its independent marker of tumor aggressiveness and adverse clinicopathological features. While laminin immunoreactivity is associated with adverse clinicopathological features, further large-scale, longitudinal studies incorporating survival data and multivariate analysis are required before considering its routine integration into breast cancer diagnostics.