What does CK14 negative mean for breast cancer

Breast cancer CK14 is negative, which means that CK14, or cytokeratin 14, is expressed negatively in breast cancer tissue, indicating that the content of cytokeratin 14 in tumor cells is very low, which usually means that the tumor cells are less malignant and the prognosis is relatively good.

Cytokeratin 14 is an intermediate filament protein in keratinocytes. In normal tissues, epithelial cells can express a variety of cytokeratins. When cancer occurs, tumor cells lose their ability to differentiate normally, resulting in abnormal expression of cytokeratins. By detecting the expression of cytokeratins, the malignancy and prognosis of the tumor can be evaluated. Negative CK14 in breast cancer indicates that the proliferation rate of tumor cells is slow, the growth rate of the tumor is relatively slow, and the patient's prognosis may be better.

Negative CK14 in breast cancer is only an indicator for evaluating the prognosis of breast cancer, and it cannot completely rule out the presence of breast cancer. The patient's survival is also affected by many other factors, such as tumor stage, treatment method, individual differences, etc. When evaluating the prognosis of a patient, it is necessary to consider a variety of factors. Doctors usually combine multiple detection methods and clinical manifestations to make a comprehensive judgment.