Vol. 24, No. 3, 2002 (September)
	Content

AMPLIFICATION OF c-erbB-2 GENE IN FEMALE BREAST CANCER

M. Zadrozny¹, B. Smolarz^2,, H. Romanowicz-Makowska², E. Kozlowska², A. Kulig²

¹Department of Oncology, Institute of Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital, Lodz 93-338, Poland
²Department of Pathology, Institute of Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital, Lodz 93-338, Poland

Abstract. Breast cancer is an increasingly important cause of illness and death among women. In recent years several novel prognostic determinants of breast cancer have been identified, including c-erbB-2. In this study we investigated the association between presence of c-erbB-2 gene amplification and breast cancer appearance and/or progression. The amplification of c-erbB-2 gene was analysed in 102 tumor specimens of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of breast. They were categorized according to the modified Bloom and Richardson criteria into three histological grades. Blood samples from age matched healthy women served as control (n = 95). The amplification of c-erbB-2 gene was determined by PCR amplification using appropriate primers and was identified in 80.39% (82/102) of the cancers and in 11.57% controls (11/95). The number of positive samples was significantly higher among cancer samples than among control samples (p < 0.05). Additionally there were significant differences between amplification status between lymph node-negative and lymph node-positive patients. The high incidence of c-erbB-2 amplification in female breast tumors suggests a potential role of c-erbB-2 in breast cancer progression.

Key Words: c-erbB-2, amplification, breast cancer, PCR.

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