p53 status in breast carcinomas revealed by FASAY correlates well with p53protein accumulation determined by immunohistochemistry

The prognostic and predictive value of p53 mutation in breast cancer is sti ll conflicting. The choice of the p53 status detection method may account f or some discrepancies. In this pilot study we compared two differently-base d methods for detection of p53 alteration in 32 east carcinoma samples: the immunohistochemical method using Bp53, DO1 and DO11 monoclonal antibodies for analysis of the p53 protein accumulation in cell nuclei and the functio nal method FASAY. FASAY - functional analysis of the separated alleles in y east - tests the capability of the human p53 to transactivate a reporter wi th a p53 binding site RGC driving the ADE2 gene in yeast. In our group the percentage of breast cancers with accumulated. p53 protein was 50%, as well as percentage of mutant p53 scored by FASAY was 50%. Although the agreemen t of both methods, when comparing the results of individual patients washig h (94%), our results show that immunohistochemistry does not reflect the p5 3 status quite exactly.