Cystosarcoma phyllodes of the breast: Prognostic significance of proliferation and apoptosis associated genes

Background: Cystosarcoma phyllodes (CP) is a rare fibroepithelial tumor of the breast So far no valuable prognostic factors are available for predicti ng the biological behaviour and often unexpected clinical outcome of this t umor Patients and Methods: Using immuno-histochemistry, Mib-1 evaluated pro liferative activity and expression of p53, Bcl-2, c-erbB1, c-erbB2 cytokera tin and vimentin were analysed in 17 benign and 12 malignant CP. Results: C ell proliferation was significantly higher in malignant tumors compared to benign ones both in the epithelial and mesenchymal parts In the epithelial part Bcl-2 positive cells were found more frequently in benign than in mali gnant lesions. Positive immunoreactivity for p53 was seen in only one malig nant case. The reaction was positive in the both epithelial and mesenchymal compartments. Expression of c-erbB-proteins was not found in any case. The intermediate filament proteins indicate clearly the two components of the tremor: Conclusions: We concluded that increased proliferate activity and d ownregulation of Bcl-2 may be associated with dedifferentiation of cells an d malignant progression. C-erbB-proteins are obviously not involved in carc inogenesis of CP.