title: Prognostic significance of BRCA1 expression in Japanese sporadic breast carcinomas.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  BRCA1 is a tumor suppressor gene that is responsible for hereditary breast and ovarian carcinoma syndrome. The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the influence of BRCA1 expression on the prognoses of sporadic breast carcinomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 175 Japanese women with invasive breast carcinoma who had no family history in first-degree relatives was studied. Expression of BRCA1 was determined by an immunohistochemical procedure in which the MS110 monoclonal antibody was used. Kaplan--Meier and Cox proportional regression survival analyses were used to compare negative and positive BRCA1 patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred fifteen (65.7%) of the 175 specimens showed positive BRCA1 staining (> 10% cells were immunoreactive). During a median follow-up of 4.4 years, negative BRCA1 patients had worse disease free survival than positive BRCA1 patients (35 % vs. 7%, respectively; P < 0.0001). BRCA1 expression was significantly inversely correlated with histologic grade (P < 0.0001) but not with lymph node status or other conventional prognostic markers. In multivariate analysis using the Cox regression model, positive BRCA1 emerged as an independent prognostic indicator for disease free survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study suggest that BRCA1 may be a valuable marker for identifying women with sporadic breast carcinoma at high risk of developing recurrence, and who may be candidates for trials investigating new therapies in combination with standard adjuvant therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Affiliated Kihoku Hospital, Wakayama Medical University School of Medicine, Katuragi-cho, Wakayama, Japan. yang-qf@mail.wakayama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuma
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Umemura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kakudo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor