title: Role of P53 and BCL-2 in high-risk breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adjuvant therapy has become an integral component of the managment of primary high-risk breast cancer patients. However, a considerable fraction of women receive no benefit from this treatment. This study investigates whether a number of biopathological factors can influence the outcome of patients submitted to adjuvant chemotherapy involving the use of high-dose epirubicin and cyclophosphamide.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty-seven primary breast cancer patients, considered at high risk according to the St. Gallen Meeting Consensus Conference, were evaluated immunohistochemically for estrogen, progesterone receptors, p53, bcl-2, HER-2/neu, and Ki-67, of which the results were correlated with patient outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results obtained demonstrated that p53 is a significant predictor of disease-free survival (DFS P < 0.0001) and overall survival (OS P = 0.0002) both in ductal and lobular carcinomas, whereas bcl-2 expression seems to be of prognostic value only in lobular carcinomas (DFS P = 0.01; OS P = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This data indicates that in high-risk breast cancer patients the immunohistochemical evaluation of p53 and bcl-2 may be of clinical value in distinguishing different responses to adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mottolese
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benevolo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Del Monte
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buglioni
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papaldo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nisticò
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Filippo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vasselli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vici
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Botti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D015251:Epirubicin; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53