Prognostic significance of apoptotic disseminated tumor cells in primary breast cancer patients

An imbalance between cell proliferation and programmed cell death leads to tumour growth. Although most cytostatic agents used in systemic therapy of breast cancer induce an apoptosis in tumour cells leading to their destruction, a high ratio of apoptotic cells in primary breast cancer is correlated with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the incidence and (2) prognostic significance of apoptotic tumour cells in bone marrow (BM) of primary breast cancer patients who underwent primary surgery or were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.