Background/Aim: Perineural invasion (PNI) is a poor prognostic factor in a variety of cancers. However, the frequency of PNI in invasive breast carcinoma varies among studies, and the prognostic significance of PNI remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the prognostic value of PNI in breast cancer patients. Patients and Methods: The cohort included 191 consecutive female patients who underwent surgical resection of invasive carcinoma of no special type (NOS). The correlations between PNI and clinicopathological characteristics including prognosis were investigated. Results: The frequency of PNI was 14.1% (27/191) and the PNI-positive status was significantly correlated with large pathological tumor size (p=0.005), lymph node metastasis (p=0.001), and lymphatic invasion (p=0.009). The log-rank test showed that PNI-positive patients had shorter distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (p=0.002) and disease-specific survival (DSS) (p<0.001). According to the multivariate analysis, PNI had a significant adverse effect on DMFS (p=0.037) and DSS (p=0.003). Conclusion: PNI could be used as an independent poor prognostic indicator in patients with invasive breast carcinoma.

Background/Aim: Podoplanin is a candidate cancer stem cell marker in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Several studies have reported the prognostic value of podoplanin expression in tumor cells in lung SCC but few have focused on its expression in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). The aim of this study was to analyze the prognostic significance of podoplanin expression, with special reference to the expression pattern in both tumor cells and CAFs. Patients and Methods: Immunohistochemical analyses using anti-podoplanin antibody were performed on 126 resected specimens of lung SCC. When more than 10% of tumor cells or CAFs showed immunoreactivity with podoplanin levels as strong as those of the positive controls, the specimens were classified as a podoplanin-positive. Results: Podoplanin-positive status in tumor cells (n=54) was correlated with a lower incidence of lymphatic invasion (p=0.031) but there were no significant differences in disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) by the log-rank test. Podoplanin-positive status in CAFs (n=41) was correlated with more advanced stage (p=0.008), higher frequency of pleural invasion (p=0.002) and both shorter DFS (p=0.006) and DSS (p=0.006). In Cox's multivariate analysis, podoplanin-positive status in CAFs was an independent negative prognostic factor for DFS (p=0.027) and DSS (p=0.027). Conclusion: Podoplanin expression in CAFs might be an independent unfavorable prognostic indicator in patients with lung SCC, irrespective of the expression status of tumor cells.