Robinson cytologic grading in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast: correlation with E-cadherin and alpha-, beta- and gamma-catenin expression and regional lymph node metastasis.

To correlate the cytologic grade of breast carcinoma with the expression of E-cadherin/catenin system molecules and the presence of metastasis in regional lymph nodes. Aspirate smears were examined together with histologic sections from the corresponding neoplasms taken from 100 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma. In 50 cases, > or = 1 metastatic nodes were identified. Cytologic grading of the smears was performed using the Robinson method. Immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin and of alpha-, beta- and gamma-catenin was studied. A statistically significant relationship was observed between E-cadherin/catenin expression and cytologic grade (p < 0.0005). This association was particularly relevant to the cell dissociation parameter (p < 0.0005). The cytological grade established in preoperative studies may provide relevant information on the aggressiveness of invasive ductal carcinoma and its tendency to produce regional metastasis. This finding could be particularly useful in cases of breast carcinoma in which neoadjuvant therapy is the method of choice.