Predictive role of neostromal CD10 expression in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Background: The therapeutic strategy of invasive breast cancer is based on routine histopathological markers (estrogen-, progesterone receptor, HER2, Ki67) routinely evaluated in tumor cells. However, the assessment of cancer stroma could influence therapeutic strategies. Studies have shown that stromal expression of CD10, a zinc-dependent metalloproteinase, is associated with biological aggressiveness of the tumor. In the present retrospective study, we aimed to evaluate stromal CD10 expression and association between CD10 expression and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in invasive breast cancer. Methods: CD10 immunohistochemistry was performed on core biopsies taken before the neoadjuvant therapy. Stromal CD10 expression was determined and compared with well-known predictive and prognostic tissue markers as well as with the following groups defined according to the degree of tumor response: no regression, partial regression, and complete regression. Results: A total of 60 locally advanced invasive breast carcinomas of "no special type" were included. The proportion of CD10 positive tumors was significantly higher in the "no regression" group compared to "complete regression" group (p = 0.000). Stromal CD10 expression was found to be significantly associated with decrease in response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. According to CD10 expression we did not find any difference in hormone receptor status, Ki67, tumor grade or neostromal area. Conclusion: Our data suggest that CD10 expression can serve as a predictive marker of the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Therefore, its inclusion into the routine assessment of biopsies to tailor tumor-specific therapeutic strategies merits consideration.