PROGNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS OF LOSS OF HETEROZYGOSITY IN THE 17Q21 REGIONIN BREAST-CANCER

Sporadic breast cancer is the commonest form of this malignancy. Genet ic changes are frequent events in breast cancer. We investigated the i mplication of LOH in the 17q21 region as a prognostic factor in this d isease. Fifty-three patients were studied and 14 clinico-pathological parameters were evaluated for comparison between the patients with LOH and patients without LOH. A LOH rate of 21% was found and, upon compa rison of the two subgroups, a significantly lower rate of recurrence a fter adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with LOH was observed. This sug gests that LOH occurring in this region in breast cancer could help to design new adjuvant treatment strategies.