Objective: To investigate the value of CD10， p63 and calponin， the markers of breast myoepithelial cells， in differential diagnosis between benign and malignant epithelial lesions of the breast.
Methods: The expressions of CD10， p63 and calponin in usual ductal hyperplasia (UDH)， atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH)， ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast were detected by immunohistochemical staining， and their diagnostic roles in benign and malignant epithelial lesions of the breast were analyzed.
Results: All the three markers of breast myoepithelial cells were expressed in the tissues of UDH， ADH and DCIS groups to varying degrees， and were mainly expressed in the myoepithelial cells around the mammary duct. The expression level of calponin had no difference between the three groups， and the expression level of p63 was in the order of UDH group ＞ADH group ＞DCIS group (all P＜0.05). The expression levels of CD10 between UDH group and ADH group were similar， but both were higher than that of the DCIS group (both P＜0.05). There was almost no expression of CD10 and p63， and little expression of calponin in tumor stroma of the IDC group， and all of these had statistical differences compared with the above three groups (all P＜0.05).
Conclusions: Combination detection of CD10， p63 and calponin can be used for the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant breast lesions. Of these markers， CD10 and p63 have better specificity， while calponin has high sensitivity but less specificity.