Marek Zadrozny(1), Beata Smolarz(2), Hanna Romanowicz-Makowska(2), Elzbieta Kozlowska(2), Andrzej Kulig(2)

Genetic Analysis of HER-2/neu Gene Amplification in Paraffin Embedded Tumour Tissue in Women with Breast Cancer

1)Department of Oncology,
2)Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Pathology, Institute of Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital, Lodz

Abstract

In recent years several novel prognostic determinants of breast cancer have been identified, including HER-2/neu. The oncogene called HER-2/neu or c-erbB-2 located at 17q21 encodes a 185-kD transmembrane glycoprotein, p185. The HER-2/neu gene is frequently overexpressed in human breast cancers as a result of gene amplification and/or elevated transcription. In this study we investigated the association between the presence of HER-2/neu gene amplification and appearance and/or progression of breast cancer. Paraffin embedded tumour tissue was obtained from 82 women with breast cancer. Blood samples from age matched healthy women served as control (n=50). The amplification of HER-2/neu gene was determined by PCR amplification using appropriate primers. The amplification of HER-2/neu gene was significantly higher in women with breast cancer as compared with control (P<0.05). Additionally, there were differences in the amplification status between node-positive and node-negative breast cancer patients. The results suggest that the presence of amplification of HER-2/neu gene may be linked with the appearance and/or progression of breast cancer.