Protein accumulation and gene mutation of p53 in bilateral breast cancer

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of p53 alterations in bilateral breast cancer and to evaluate a possible clonal relationship between the paired tumours regarding p53 alteration and other pathobiological variables. Tumours from 34 patients were investigated with immunohistochemistry, single strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA-sequence analysis applied to exons 5-8. Fifteen percent of the 68 tumours showed positive immunoreaction and/or presence of mutation. The occurrence of p53 accumulation was 9% and the prevalence of gene mutation 10%. No significant concordance was found between the tumours in the same patient for p53 alterations, progesterone receptor status or DNA ploidy. S-phase fraction showed a weak correlation, not statistically significant. Oestrogen receptor status was the only variable that exhibited a significant concordance. No convincing evidence was found for other associations between the paired tumours or for a high prevalence of p53 alterations in bilateral breast cancer.