Tenascin-C
(Tn-C)

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Gene: on chromosome .
mRNA: size: kb
Protein: an extracellular matrix glycoprotein expressed transiently during embryogenesis, inflammation and malignancy. It is variably present in the basement membrane region of some adult epithelia and enhanced periductally next to the basement membrane in intraductal carcinoma of the breast.

Cell lines:

Tumors:
- In infiltrating breast cancer, Tn-C is expressed deep in the stroma (Ferguson J.E. et al., 1990; Howeedy A.A. et al., 1990).

- Tn-C produced by carcinoma cells has been suggested to facilitate the spreading of the carcinoma (Ishihara A. et al., 1995).

- In a study of axillary node-negative breast cancer, none of the tumours that did not express Tn-C in the stroma (15/137) recurred. 8 out the 11 tumours that developed distant metastases within 5 years expressed Tn-C in the invasion border (Jahkola T. et al., 1996).

- Tn-C expression in the early breast tumour invasion border was found to be a significant prognostic factor for local recurrence. Tn-C expression in the invasion border was associated with a higher proliferation rate measured by Ki-67 and S-phase fraction, which is consistent with a suggested growth-promoting activity of Tn-C (Jahkola T. et al., 1998).

Ferguson J.E. et al. (1990) Tn-C distribution in the normal human breast is altered during the menstrual cycle and in carcinoma. Differentiation 42, 199-207.
Howeedy A.A. et al. (1990) Differential distribution of tenascin in the normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic breast. Lab. Invest. 63, 798-806.
Ishihara A. et al. (1995) Tenascin expression in cancer cells and stroma of human breast cancer and its prognostic significance. Clin. Cancer Res. 1, 1035-1041.
Jahkola T. et al. (1996) Expression of tenascin in invasion border of early breast cancer correlates with higher risk of distant metastasis. Int. J. Cancer 69, 445-447.
Jahkola T. et al. (1998) Tenascin-C expression in invasion border of early breast cancer: a predictor of local and distant recurrence. Br. J. Cancer 78, 1507-1513.

Under construction