title: Absence of mutations in the Wilms' tumor gene WT1 in primary breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It was recently demonstrated that the WT1 gene was overexpressed in primary breast cancer and that the high expression levels of WT1 mRNA significantly correlated with poor prognosis. However, it remained undetermined whether or not the WT1 gene expressed in breast cancer had mutations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Breast cancer tissues were obtained from 36 patients with breast cancer. WT1 genomic DNA was PCR-amplified and examined for mutations by direct sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sequencing analysis showed the absence of mutations through the whole 10 exons of the WT1 gene in the 36 cases of primary breast cancer. Two different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) without an amino acid change (Pro42, C to T in exon 1, and/or Arg300, A to G in exon 7) were detected in the WT1 gene in 31 (86%) of the 36 cases examined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that the wild-type WT1 gene plays an important role in the tumorigenesis of primary breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Diagnostic Science, Surgical Oncology, Molecular Medicine and Cancer Immunotherapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oji
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiyotoh
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hosen
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuboi
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikegame
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Shinzaburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D025721:WT1 Proteins