title: c-myc, not her-2/neu, can predict the prognosis of breast cancer patients: how novel, how accurate, and how significant?
abstract: The predictive and prognostic implication of oncogene amplification in breast cancer has received great attention in the past two decades. her-2/neu and c-myc are two oncogenes that are frequently amplified and overexpressed in breast carcinomas. Despite the extensive data on these oncogenes, their prognostic and predictive impact on breast cancer patients remains controversial. Schlotter and colleagues have recently suggested that c-myc, and not her-2/neu, could predict the recurrence and mortality of patients with node-negative breast carcinomas. Regardless of the promising results, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of data from studies assessing gene amplification without in situ analysis. We address the novelty, accuracy and clinical significance of the study by Schlotter and colleagues.
authors.affiliation: IPATIMUP (Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto), Porto, Portugal. fernando.schmitt@ipatimup.pt
authors.forename: Fernando C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: Jorge S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Reis-Filho
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000235:genetics*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases