Artikel
Gene expression profiling of breast cancer tissues using whole genome cDNA microarrays
Suche in Medline nach
Autoren
Veröffentlicht: | 20. März 2006 |
---|
Gliederung
Text
Despite its clinical importance, the biology of breast cancer remains poorly understood. Systematic investigation of gene expression patterns in tumours might enhance our understanding of breast cancer development and lead to the dicovery of new markergenes for diagnosis and prognosis of the patient. To approach this goal, total RNA from 126 breast cancer tissues was measured by whole genome (RZPD Human Unigene Set 3.1) cDNA microarrays. 128 genes were found to be differentially expressed depending on the grade of the tumour. These genes could help to elucidate the molecular changes occuring in the progression of low-grade to high-grade tumours. 1099 genes were associated with the status of the estrogen receptor: Among these were XBP1, NAT1, FOXA1, COX6C, CRIP1,SLC7A5 and FABP7 who are well known discriminators of ER status. Eight genes residing in the 17q12 amplicon (containing ERBB2) were collectively higher expressed in 22 breast cancer samples. The frequent amplification of this region indicates that several overexpressed genes of the 17q12 locus may be involved in the development of lesions and/or promote tumour development by enhancing growth rate or reducing apoptotic activity. Using a censored survival analysis for microarrays, 13 genes were found to be correlated with the disease-free survival of the patients. To validate these findings Taqman qRT-PCR followed by a survival analysis using Kaplan-Meyer-Plots and long-rank statistics is used.