Body Mass Index (BMI), the measure of a person's fat based on their height and weight, may be an effective prognostic tool for specific types of breast cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

The study is being published the week of June 18, 2007 in an advanced online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Until this study, the significance of pleiotrophin (PTN) expression in breast cancer had not been clearly established.

Researchers have identified loss of Fiblin-2 as a marker of breast cancer progression since the protein is expressed by normal breast cells but lost in breast cancer cell lines and invasive breast tumors. As further confirmation of Fibulin-2's anti-invasion effect, reintroduction of the protein into Fibulin-2-negative breast cancer cells resulted in decreased cell migration and invasion in vitro.