Analysis of RhoC expression and lymphovascular emboli in inflammatory vs non-inflammatory breast cancers in Egyptian patients

Understanding the molecular factors that distinguish inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) from non-IBC is important for IBC diagnosis. We reviewed the records of 48 IBC patients and 64 non-IBC patients from Egypt. We determined RhoC expression and tumor emboli and their relationship to demographic and reproductive characteristics. Compared with non-IBC patients, IBC patients had significantly lower parity (P=0.018) and fewer palpable tumors (P<0.0001). IBC tumors showed RhoC overexpression more frequently than non-IBC tumors (87% vs. 17%, respectively) (P<0.0001). Tumor emboli were significantly more frequent in IBC tumors than non-IBC tumors (Mean+/- SD: 14.1+/-14.0 vs. 7.0+/-12.9, respectively) (P<0.0001). This study illustrates that RhoC overexpression and tumor emboli are more frequent in tumors of IBC relative to non-IBC from Egypt. Future studies should focus on relating epidemiologic factors to molecular features of IBC in this population.