Comparative genomic hybridization of ductal carcinomain situ of the breast?evidence of multiple genetic pathways

✍ Scribed by Buerger, Horst; Otterbach, Friedrich; Simon, Ronald; Poremba, Christopher; Diallo, Raihanatou; Decker, Thomas; Riethdorf, Lutz; Brinkschmidt, Christian; Dockhorn-Dworniczak, Barbara; Boecker, Werner

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 315 KB
• Volume: 187
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-3417
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9896(199903)187:4<396::aid-path286>3.0.co;2-l

✦ Synopsis

There is strong evidence that ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) represents a precursor lesion of invasive breast cancer. In order to analyse specific chromosomal alterations of DCIS, 38 paraffin-embedded specimens of DCIS and six associated invasive carcinomas were examined by means of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Losses of 16q material were seen almost exclusively in well-and intermediately-differentiated DCIS. These two subgroups differed in the average number of genetic imbalances, 2•5 and 5•5 respectively. Additionally, a higher frequency of gains of 1q and losses of 11q material was seen in intermediately-differentiated in contrast to well-differentiated DCIS. Poorly-differentiated DCIS displayed a higher frequency of amplifications (17q12, 11q13) and a higher average rate of genetic imbalances (7•1). Analysis of adjacent invasive breast carcinoma revealed a genetic pattern almost identical to the one seen in the DCIS counterpart. These data characterize DCIS as a genetically far-advanced, heterogeneous lesion and as a direct precursor of invasive breast cancer.