title: p53 status identifies two subgroups of triple-negative breast cancers with distinct biological features.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the clinical similarities triple-negative and basal-like breast cancer are not synonymous. Indeed, not all basal-like cancers are negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 expression while triple-negative also encompasses other cancer types. P53 protein appears heterogeneously expressed in triple-negative breast cancers, suggesting that it may be associated with specific biological subgroups with a different outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  We comparatively analyzed p53 expression in triple-negative tumors from two independent breast cancer case series (633 cases from the University of Ferrara and 1076 cases from the University of Nottingham).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both case series, p53 protein expression was able to subdivide the triple-negative cases into two distinct subsets consistent with a different outcome. In fact, triple-negative patients with a p53 expressing tumor showed worse overall and event-free survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The immunohistochemical evaluation of p53 expression may help in taming the currently stormy relationship between pathological (triple-negative tumors) and biological (basal breast cancers) classifications and in selecting patient subgroups with different biological features providing a potentially powerful prognostic contribution in triple-negative breast cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Work Medicine Clinica del Lavoro L. Devoto, Section Department of Medical Statistics and Biometry G.A. Maccacaro, University of Milan, Via Vanzetti 5, 20133 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Biganzoli
authors.forename: Danila
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coradini
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ambrogi
authors.forename: Jonhatan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Garibaldi
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lisboa
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Soria
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pedriali
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piantelli
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Querzoli
authors.forename: Romano
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Demicheli
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boracchi
authors.forename: Italo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nenci
authors.forename: Ian O
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alberti
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018295:Neoplasms, Basal Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human