TESTING FOR MUTATIONS OF THE ATAXIA-TELANGIECTASIA GENE IN RADIOSENSITIVE BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS

Background and purpose: To determine if clinical radiosensitivity in b reast cancer patients is related to mutations of the ataxia telangiect asia gene (ATM).Materials and methods: Fifteen patients who had develo ped a severe late reaction to a standard radiotherapy schedule were ex amined for evidence of increased in vitro radiosensitivity using the M TT assay. Mutation analysis was performed using a protein truncation a ssay. Results: No mutations were detected in the 15 patients despite e vidence of increased in vitro radiosensitivity. Conclusions: Testing f or the ATM gene is unlikely to be useful for predicting clinical respo nse to radiotherapy in breast cancer patients. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scien ce Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.