c-erbB-2 and ras expression levels in breast cancer are correlated and show a co-operative association with unfavorable clinical outcome
✍ Scribed by Claudio Dati; Roberto Muraca; Ornella Tazartes; Susanna Antoniotti; Isabelle Perroteau; Maurizia Giai; Paolo Cortese; Piero Sismondi; Giuseppe Saglio; Michele De Bortoli
- Book ID
- 102867595
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- French
- Weight
- 726 KB
- Volume
- 47
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0020-7136
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✦ Synopsis
c-erbB-2 and ras expression was measured on tumor extracts from 132 human primary breast carcinomas, by immunoblotting analysis. Expression of the c-erb8-2-encoded p I85 protein was observed in 39% of the samples and found to correlate with c-erbB-2 gene amplification, detected by Southern analysis in I 9 of the 77 available tumor DNAs. p185 expression was linked to the absence of progesterone receptors, but it was not related to lymph-node status or to other clinico-pathological parameters. Levels of the ras-encoded p2 I proteins higher than in normal breast tissues were found in 71% of the samples. No significant correlation was seen between p2 I level and the available clinical parameters. Conversely, there was a strong positive correlation between p2I and p 185 levels. Analysis of follow-up data revealed that p I85 expression was associated with a shorter time to relapse and death. Most notably, the contemporaneous expression of p I85 and of high p2I levels was more effective than p185 expression alone in identifying cases with poor prognosis. The prognostic value of p 185/p2 I co-expression was particularly significant in progesterone-receptor-positive tumors. Our data suggest that c-erbB-2 and ras may act synergistically to endow breast-tumor cells with a highly aggressive phenotype.