Molecular alterations in key-regulator genes among patients with T4 breast carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Prognostic factors in patients who are diagnosed with T4 breast carcinomas are widely awaited. We here evaluated the clinical role of some molecular alterations involved in tumorigenesis in a well-characterized cohort of T4 breast cancer patients with a long follow-up period.


METHODS
A consecutive series of 53 patients with T4 breast carcinoma was enrolled between 1992 and 2001 in Sardinia, and observed up for a median of 125 months. Archival paraffin-embedded tissue sections were used for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses, in order to assess alterations in expression levels of survivin, p53, and pERK1-2 proteins as well as in amplification of CyclinD1 and h-prune genes. The Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods were used for survival assessment and statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Overall, patients carrying increased expression of pERK1-2 (p = 0.027) and survivin (p = 0.008) proteins as well as amplification of h-prune gene (p = 0.045) presented a statistically-significant poorer overall survival in comparison with cases found negative for such alterations. After multivariate analysis, the pathological response to primary chemotherapy and the survivin overexpression in primary carcinoma represented the main parameters with a role as independent prognostic factors in our series.


CONCLUSIONS
Although retrospective, our study identified some molecular parameters with a significant impact on prediction of the response to therapy or prognosis among T4 breast cancer patients. Further large prospective studies are needed in order to validate the use of such markers for the management of these patients.
Massidda
Bruno
B
Department of Medical Oncology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Sini
Mariacristina
M
Budroni
Mario
M
Atzori
Francesco
F
Deidda
Mariacristina
M
Pusceddu
Valeria
V
Perra
Mariateresa
M
Sirigu
Paola
P
Cossu
Antonio
A
Palomba
Grazia
G
Ionta
Mariateresa
M
Palmieri
Giuseppe
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019938:Cyclin D1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D007558:Italy; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D000077022:Survivin; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C530104:CCND1 protein, human; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D000077022:Survivin; C495901:TP53 protein, human; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019938:Cyclin D1; C535150:MAPK1 protein, human; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; C438732:PRUNE1 protein, human; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases