Prognostic Significance of Survivin and Livin Expression in the Primary Breast Cancer and Their Lymph Node Metastases

Review Data

Q: Is the topic relevant to the journal area of interest? Is it contemporary and interesting for

researchers?

A: Good

Abstract & Keywords

Q: Are all required components included in the abstract? Are the keywords appropriately chosen?

A: Very good

Goal

Q: Is the goal explicitly stated in the Introduction? Is its formulation clear and unambiguous?

A: Very good

Structure

Q: Is the paper's structure coherent? Is it in coherence with the goal of the paper?

A: Good

Tools and Methods

Q: Are methods the author uses adequate and well used?

A: Very good

Discussion & Conclusion

Q: Is it related to the results presented before? Do you consider them as coherent?

A: Excellent

Comments: The Discussion section thoroughly analyses the observations presented in this study with the help of relevant literature. It provides a valuable insight into the prognostic significance of Survivin and Livin expression in the primary breast cancer and their lymph node metastases. The findings demonstrate that Survivin expression is significantly associated with several indicators of favourable prognosis including the site of the tumor, unifocal tumor, no recurrence and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her-2) negative tumors whereas Livin expression is correlated with positive family history only. The analysis leads to a Conclusion that states that Survivin and Livin expression may serve as useful molecular markers for predicting clinical outcomes of patients with invasive breast cancer.

Literature

Q: Does the author utilize relevant literature?

A: Very good

Author's knowledge

Q: What is the level of the author’s knowledge? Does the author utilize all recent contributions relevant to the topic?

A: Very good

Length

Q: Is the length of the paper adequate to the significance of the topic? Do you suggest shortening the paper without losing its value?

A: Good

Figures & Tables

Q: Does the author use them suitably? Are legend and notations clear?

A: Very good

Writing style

Q: Is it clear and understandable?

A: Good

Comments:

·       In the sentence of the Aim under the section of the Abstract, the word “significant” should be replaced with “significance”.

·       In the 3^rd sentence of the Results under the section of the Abstract, the word “association” should be replaced with “associations” and “of” should be replaced with “between”.

·       The 4^th sentence of the 2^nd paragraph of the Introduction seems incomplete. Therefore, it has been rephrased as “It is being involved… in malignant cells.”

·       The last sentence of the last paragraph of the Discussion seems incomplete. Hence, “their metastases” has been added at the end of the sentence and the sentence has been rephrased as “Accordingly, Survivin expression in the primary tumors (82%) is significantly more common than in their lymph node metastases (34%) whereas no such difference exists in Livin expression (71%) and their metastases (84%) respectively.”

·       Words like “Survivin”, “exists” are misspelled in the text section of the article.

·       Punctuations and articles are missing in several places throughout the text section of the manuscript.

Further comments on the paper

Comments: This study aims at evaluating Survivin and Livin expression as prognostic indicators by analysing archival samples from 78 Libyan women with invasive breast cancer. It analyses the tumor biopsies and assesses the expression of cytoplasmic Survivin and Livin proteins in primary invasive breast cancer and their lymph node metastases, correlating Survivin and Livin expression patterns with several clinicopathological variables. This study establishes a significant correlation between Survivin expression and the site of the tumor, tumor recurrence, unifocal tumor and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her-2) negative tumors. On the other hand, Livin expression is significantly associated only with a positive family history of breast cancer and no significant association was found with other clinicopathological parameters. This study did not obtain sufficient evidence regarding the association between Livin expression and estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), Her-2 status, or tumor grade. These findings call for further research on these two molecular markers in breast cancer.

Q: Would you recommend this manuscript for further publication?

A: Yes - Suitable to be published

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Science Repository Team