RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONCOGENE AMPLIFICATION, ANEUPLOIDY AND ALTERED EXPRESSION OF P53 IN BREAST-CANCER

Many studies have noted an association between amplification of single oncogenes and poor prognosis in breast cancer. We are investigating w hether measurement of amplification in a larger number of proto-oncoge nes increases the reliability of the prognostic information provided. As the first stage of this investigation, amplification (of c-erbB-2, cycD1, int-2, c-myc and MDM2), aneuploidy and altered expression of p5 3, which all indicate genetic instability, were studied in 117 primary breast adenocarcinomas. Amplification was correlated with aneuploidy (p=0.002) but not with altered expression of p53 even though the tumou rs with p53 overexpression were all aneuploid. Our results suggest tha t measurement of amplification is a potentially valuable prognostic fa ctor.