ErbB-2 protein in sera and tumors of breast cancer patients.
We compared levels of erbB-2 oncoprotein among three groups: Group I included 60 asymptomatic women; Group II had 51 women with benign breast biopsies; and Group III had 67 women with node-negative breast cancer. Serological levels of erbB-2 protein were measured in all participants; tumor levels were measured for Groups II and III. Forty-three percent of usable tumors (25/58), including three of seven lobular tumors, were erbB-2 positive. Tumor and blood oncoprotein levels were unrelated. Blood levels, however, were positively related to tumor volume, but only when the tumor had both a ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) component and an invasive component, suggesting a role for erbB-2 protein in progression of DCIS to invasive carcinoma. In Groups I and II serological levels of erbB-2 protein were directly related to age, and inversely related to having had a live birth. Therefore, a model that determined the threshold levels of serological erbB-2 positivity in Group III included age and nulliparity as independent variables. Only three of the 67 women (4.5%) in Group III were positive for serological erbB-2. In a multivariate model, with serological erbB-2 as the dependent variable, and in which the independent variables included Study Group, there was a statistical trend for younger women, in which Group III had the highest serological levels of erbB-2, followed by Group II, and then Group I. In women who were over the age of 50 years the trend was reversed; i.e., levels of erbB-2 tended to be lowest in Group III, followed by Group II, and finally Group I.
The Strang Cancer Prevention Center, New York, New York 10021, USA. bbreuer@jhha.org
B
B
Breuer
S
S
Smith
A
A
Thor
S
S
Edgerton
M P
MP
Osborne
R
R
Minick
H S
HS
Cody
E
E
Nowak
A
A
Cortese
R M
RM
Simmons
W P
WP
Carney
P W
PW
Brandt-Rauf
D000367:Age Factors; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008572:Menarche; D008593:Menopause; D010298:Parity; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases