c-erbB-2 and c-erbA-1 (ear-1) gene amplification and c-erbB-2 protein expression in Japanese breast cancers: their relationship to the histology and other disease parameters.
We studied c-erbB-2 and c-erbA-1 (ear-1) gene amplification, and c-erbB-2 protein expression in 123 primary Japanese breast cancers. c-erbB-2 amplification was found in 19 of the 123 tumors (15%), and c-erbA-1 was coamplified in 7 of the 19. The presence or absence of c-erbB-2 amplification correlated with the grade of cellular atypism (P = 0.008), or that of mitotic index (P = 0.002), but not with the histologic types. The tumor size (P = 0.04) and the lymph node status (P = 0.06) were associated, but the patients' age, the TNM stage, or the presence or absence of estrogen or progesterone receptors was not associated, with c-erbB-2 amplification. There were no differences in the histologic type, cellular atypism, mitotic index, and other disease parameters between tumors with c-erbB-2 amplification only and those with coamplification of c-erbB-2 and c-erbA-1. Paraffin sections from all 19 tumors with c-erbB-2 amplification, and those from only one of 104 tumors without the amplification were positively stained with polyclonal anti-c-erbB-2 protein antibody. Since the correlation between the amplification and the protein expression was excellent, such immunohistochemical studies may be substituted for the time-consuming DNA studies using Southern blotting.
Uehara
T
T
Department of Pathology, Saitama Cancer Center Research Institute.
Kaneko
Y
Y
Kanda
N
N
Yamamoto
T
T
Higashi
Y
Y
Nomoto
C
C
Izumo
T
T
Takayama
S
S
Sakurai
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008940:Mitotic Index; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011519:Proto-Oncogenes; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases