Correlation of erbB-2 gene amplification with low levels of estrogen and/or progesterone receptors in primary breast cancer: do erbB-2 products delineate hormone-independent tumors?
We analyzed erbB-2 gene amplification in 170 primary breast carcinomas. Thirty-one percent of tumors exhibited additional copies of erbB-2 gene. Chi-square analysis did not elicit any association between gene amplification and either menopausal or node status. A slight trend was observed with respect to the SBR grading. In contrast, significant correlation was associated with the age of patients and we found a strong relation with the intratumoral steroid receptor status. ErbB-2 amplification significantly occurs in tumors whose estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor were below the cut-off value or absent and tumors with dissociated estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status were revealed as entities similar to both estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor negative tumors.
Roux-Dosseto
M
M
URA CNRS 1175, Faculté de Médecine Nord, Marseilles, France.
Romain
S
S
Dussault
N
N
Martin
P M
PM
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011897:Random Allocation; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000235:genetics*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000235:genetics*
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone