TY - JOUR AB - The present study examined SMAD family member 4 (Smad4), SMAD family member 2 (Smad2) and phosphorylated (p‑)Smad2 expression in biopsy specimens from patients with invasive breast ductal carcinoma, in order to assess their abilities as prognostic markers. A total of 126 tissue samples were selected, and the expression of Smad2, p‑Smad2 and Smad4 in carcinoma tissues was detected by immunostaining, and the association between protein expression and clinicopathological variables was analyzed. Smad4 expression was negatively correlated with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 in carcinoma tissues, and Smad4 expression was consistent with that of p‑Smad2. Although multivariate analysis revealed that Smad2, p‑Smad2 and Smad4 were not independent predictors, Kaplan‑Meier curves demonstrated that Smad4 positivity was correlated with a longer overall survival (OS) and progression‑free survival (PFS) time. However, upon analysis of combined markers, there was a significant difference between the p‑Smad2/Smad4 co‑positive and co‑negative patients; the latter tended to exhibit a shorter OS and PFS time, and multivariate analysis revealed that the combined expression of p‑Smad2 and Smad4 may be used as an independent prognostic factor. These results suggested that the assessment of p‑Smad2 and Smad4 protein expression in breast ductal carcinoma biopsy specimens may provide additional prognostic information. AD - Department of Pathology, Medicine College of Beihua University, Jilin 132013, P.R. China Department of Pathology, Lianyungang First People's Hospital, Lianyungang, Jiangsu 222000, P.R. China Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Beihua University, Jilin 132011, P.R. China AU - Liu,Nannan AU - Qi,Dongxue AU - Jiang,Jing AU - Zhang,Jihong AU - Yu,Chunyan DA - 2020/03/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2020.11297 EP - 1798 IS - 3 JO - Oncol Lett KW - breast ductal carcinoma phosphorylated‑SMAD family member 2 SMAD family member 4 immunochemistry assay PY - 2020 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 1789 ST - Expression pattern of p‑Smad2/Smad4 as a predictor of survival in invasive breast ductal carcinoma T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Expression pattern of p‑Smad2/Smad4 as a predictor of survival in invasive breast ductal carcinoma UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2020.11297 VL - 19 ER -