ASSOCIATION OF C-ERBB2-GENE AMPLIFICATION WITH POOR-PROGNOSIS IN NONINFLAMMATORY BREAST CARCINOMAS BUT NOT IN CARCINOMAS OF THE INFLAMMATORY TYPE

It is now accepted that c-erbB2-gene amplification is correlated with poor clinical outcome for patients, mainly when axillary nodes are inv aded. We have confirmed this result by multivariate analysis in 178 pa tients with non-inflammatory breast cancer followed up for a mean peri od of 6.8 years (SD, 1.6 years). In addition, we have shown that c-erb B2 amplification, found in 30 (17%) specimens, was associated with a h igh risk of multiple metastases developing simultaneously. In contrast , for the 67 patients with inflammatory breast carcinoma, the most agg ressive type of breast carcinoma, the c-erbB2 amplification detected i n 24 (36%) specimens was not found to be associated with a higher risk of death, suggesting that the c-erbB2 gene plays a different role in the progression of these 2 types of breast cancer. Furthermore, our da ta stress the importance of the methodological approach used to determ ine gene amplification. Although Southern blot hybridization is a tumo ur- and time-consuming method not easy to adopt in routine clinical pr actice, this method remains a reference quantitative method. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.