| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nm23 protein is a metastasis suppressor protein, expressed in all tissues. Reduced Nm23 expression is related to a high incidence of lymph node and distant metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with cancers. The present study was done to analyze the expression of Nm23 using immunohistochemistry in non-neoplastic and neoplastic breast lesions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sections from 93 samples were studied and classified into non-proliferative breast lesion (13), fibrodenoma (7), proliferative breast lesion (13), carcinoma in situ (20), invasive carcinoma (23) and metastatic deposits in lymph nodes (17).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nm23 expression in these groups showed a progressive down regulation with increasing neoplastic transformation. On comparing the various groups, nm23 expression was significantly different between the various subgroups with greatest expression in non-proliferative lesions and least in metastatic deposits (p < 0.050).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is concluded that the modulation of nm23 in a spectrum of breast lesions can be indicative of metastatic phenotype and help to predict the aggressiveness of disease.</p>
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