SECONDARY BREAST-CANCER IN PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH OSTEOSARCOMA - POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT OF GERMLINE P53 MUTATIONS

Second malignancies following treatment for osteosarcoma are unusual. Breast cancer occurring in patients with osteosarcoma has been reporte d following therapeutic chest irradiation. We now report three cases o f breast cancer occurring in young women who were successfully treated for osteosarcoma. These women had not received therapeutic chest irra diation and in two of the three women there was no family history of b reast cancer. Peripheral blood was available for study from one case. Of import, this case demonstrated a germline mutation in exon 7 of the tumor suppressor gene, p53. The mutation was detected by constant den aturing gradient gel electrophoresis and confirmed by DNA sequencing. In this particular patient, inactivation of the p53 gene may be involv ed in the development of both the first and second malignancy. (C) 199 4 Wiley-Liss, Inc.