J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 94(10): 1144-1152, 1993

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Original article

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF c-erbB-2 AND int-2 GENE ALTERATIONS AND DNA PLOIDY PATTERN FOR AGGRESSIVENESS OF BREAST CANCER

We have analyzed amplificantion of the c-erbB-2 and int-2 genes, and restriction fragment length polymor-phisms (RFLPs) of the int-2 gene in 105 primary breast carcinomas. In 90 of 105 samples, overexpression of the c-erbB-2 protein and the DNA ploidy pattern were also analyzed. Amplification of the c-erbB-2 and int-2 gene was found in 27% and in 17%, respectively. No statistical correlation between c-erbB-2 and int-2 genes amplification was observed. Overexpression of the c-erbB-2 protein was detected in 28% of samples. A correlation was observed between amplification of the c-erbB-2 gene and positive nodal status. Amplification of the int-2 gene showed no correlation with clinicopathological. parameters, except that a significantly higher incidence of amplification was observed in breast carcinoma with more than 4 positive lymph nodes. Genotypes of the int-2 gene identified by RFLPs analysis revealed no correlation with clinicopathological parameters. DNA ploidy pattern, which showed neither correlation with c-erbB-2 nor int-2 genetic alterations, was associated with tumor size and TNM classification. Our result suggests that analysis of genetic alterations of the c-erbB-2 and int-2 genes and the DNA ploidy pattern may be a useful adjunct in the assessment of aggressiveness of breast carcinoma.

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