p53 mutation in plasma DNA and its prognostic value in breast cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
Tumor-specific DNA has recently been detected in the plasma of lung, head and neck, breast, and colon cancer patients. Detection of tumor-specific genetic materials in cancer patients at sites distant from the tumor, such as in the blood, may provide a unique and valuable tumor marker for diagnosis and prognosis.


METHODS
The present investigation was aimed at determining the presence of p53 mutations in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients and its prognostic value in these patients.


RESULTS
In this study, we found that the mean concentration of plasma DNA in healthy women was 21 ng/ml, whereas in patients with breast cancer the mean concentration was 211 ng/ml (P < 0.01). p53 mutations were detected in the primary tumors of 46 of 126 (36.5%) breast cancer patients. Of these 46 patients, 30 (65.1%) were found to have p53 mutations in their plasma DNA. p53 mutations in plasma DNA were strongly correlated with clinical stage, tumor size, lymph node (LN) metastasis, and estrogen receptor status (P < 0.05). After a median follow-up of 29 months, univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that both primary tumor and plasma DNA p53 mutations were significant prognostic factors for both relapse-free and overall survival. Furthermore, we demonstrated that patients with both primary tumor and plasma p53 mutations have the worst survival. This outcome occurs in both LN-positive and LN-negative groups. Thirteen of the 22 (59%) patients with recurrence and/or metastasis later had detectable p53 mutations in their plasma DNA.


CONCLUSIONS
Detection of p53 mutations in plasma DNA may be used as a prognostic factor and an early marker to indicate recurrence or distant metastasis.
Shao
Z M
ZM
Department of Surgery, Cancer Hospital/Cancer Institute, Fu Dan University, Shanghai 200032, People's Republic of China. zshao@ucla.edu
Wu
J
J
Shen
Z Z
ZZ
Nguyen
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000097:blood; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009154:Mutation; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics*
D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D018396:Mucin-1; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53