NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In breast cancers with neu/erbB-2 amplification, p53 mutations are associated with poor survival, according to a recent report. However, in the absence of neu/erbB-2 overexpression, such mutations seem to be of limited prognostic value.
The findings, which are reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology for January 1st, are based on a study of 543 women whose breast cancer specimens were tested for neu/erbB-2 amplification and for p53 mutations. All of the women had node-negative disease.
Dr. Irene L. Andrulis, from the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues found that 24.5% of specimens had p53 mutations. Such mutations were found in 38.9% of specimens with neu/erbB-2 amplification compared with just 20.9% of specimens lacking this amplification (p = 0.001).
The presence of both p53 mutations and neu/erbB-2 amplification increased the risk of death and disease recurrence compared with other test result combinations, the researchers report. The relative risks for death and recurrence were 2.22 and 2.32, respectively.
The results suggest that testing “tumors for p53 mutations may be beneficial to identify women at higher risk of disease recurrence and death when the tumor has neu/erbB-2 amplification,” the researchers conclude.
Source: J Clin Oncol 2004;22:86-96. [ Google search on this article ]
MeSH Headings:Breast Neoplasms: Neoplasms: Neoplasms by Site: Genes, p53: Genes, erbB-2: Genes, erbB: DiseasesCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
