Clinical data of 92 patients with primary breast carcinomas previously analysed for the pattern of immunohistochemical expression of three distinct carbohydrate epitopes of the TAG-72 molecule were reviewed. The clinical outcome of the patients after a median follow-up of 66 months was determined in 84 out of 92 patients. Clinicopathological characteristics of the tumours and clinical outcome of the patients were correlated with the TAG-72 epitope expression. TAG-72 was expressed more frequently in patients aged more than 50 years and in tumours of larger size, with lymph nodes metastasis, with low differentiation and with high proliferative activity. A statistical correlation was found with more advanced stages of the disease (35.7% vs 60% in stage I and in stage II-III, respectively, p=0.03). Disease-free survival and overall survival were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The survival of the patients with tumours expressing TAG-72 was not statistically different from that of patients with tumours without TAG-72 expression. These data suggest that TAG-72 expression is associated with clinicopathological parameters of aggressiveness in primary breast cancer, but it does not appear to affect the clinical outcome of the patients.

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