Affiliation:
1. Department of Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland
Abstract
Abstract
Amplification or increased expression of the c-erbB-2 gene has previously been reported to be a prognostic marker for breast cancer. Gene amplification is usually measured by Southern blotting, whereas increased protein expression is usually detected by immunocytochemistry. We measured c-erbB-2 protein with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). High concentrations of oncoprotein were found in 25 of 161 (16%) primary breast cancers and in 3 of 6 (50%) breast cancer metastases. High concentrations were not found in normal breast tissue or benign breast tumors. In the primary cancers, high concentrations of c-erbB-2 protein were found more frequently (a) in estrogen receptor-negative tumors than in estrogen receptor-positive tumors, (b) in progesterone receptor-negative tumors than in progesterone-positive tumors, and (c) in axillary node-positive cancers than in node-negative cancers. Patients with tumors containing high amounts of the c-erbB-2 protein had a significantly shorter (P less than 0.001) disease-free interval and overall survival rate than did patients with low amounts. We conclude that assay of c-erbB-2 protein by ELISA is simple, rapid, and quantitative and offers important prognostic information in breast cancer.
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Biochemistry (medical),Clinical Biochemistry
Cited by
19 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献