Summary An antibody, 21 N, raised against a synthetic peptide from the predicted sequence of the c-erbB-2 protein has been used immunocytochemically in a retrospective study of formalin fixed paraffin embedded breast biopsies. Fourteen out of 103 infiltrating ductal carcinomas exhibited positive membrane staining. Fifty-four of these tumours had lymph node involvement of which nine contained stained cells. These were all cases where the primary tumour was positive. In this series there was no correlation between c-erbB-2 overexpression and lymph node status. In five of the positive cases studied there was an associated in situ component which was also positively stained. Ten out of 24 pure intraduct carcinomas showed membrane staining, but none of the 149 benign conditions studied, which included 22 radial scars and 13 cases of atypical ductal proliferation, demonstrated the pattern of staining associated with overexpression. It is concluded that the c-erbB-2 protein is overexpressed in a minority (-14%) of infiltrating ductal carcinomas and only in cells that are cytologically malignant. Overexpression of c-erbB-2 is considered in relation to pathogenesis.
An immunohistochemical study of c-erbB-2 expression was performed on invasive and in situ breast cancer. Strong membrane staining was seen in 16% of the infiltrating ductal carcinomas and 44% of the in situ lesions. c-erbB-2 was overexpressed in ductal rather than lobular tumours. Our results indicate that a small sub-group of breast carcinomas are associated with over-expression of this oncogene which may define an important subgroup of in situ and infiltrating ductal carcinomas.
Summary An in vivo 31P NMR spectrum was obtained from each of four human breast tumours. The phosphomonoester and phosphodiester region of each spectrum consisted of a broad peak. Chemical extracts from samples of each of the tumours obtained at resection were examined on a high field strength NMR system. The phosphomonoester region in the spectrum from each extract resolved into three peaks consisting of phosphocholine, phosphoethanolamine and a nucleoside monophosphate. The phosphodiester region resolved into two components, glycerophosphorylcholine and glycerophosphorylethanolamine. Comparing the in vivo and in vitro data from each tumour showed that the contribution of phosphodiester was much lower in the in vitro spectra. We believe this to be a consequence of phospholipid, which would not appear in the aqueous extract, contributing to the phosphodiester peak in vivo.The presence of high concentrations of phosphomonoesters (PMEs) in human breast tumours has been demonstrated by several in vitro (Degani et al., 1986;Barzilai et al., 1988;Merchant et al., 1988) and in vivo (Sijens et al., 1988; Glaholm et al., 1989) studies using 31P NMR spectroscopy. Sijens et al. (1988) reported that the positive response of two breast carcinomas to radiotherapy was accompanied by a decrease in the PME content of the tumours. Further, quantitated changes in PME levels have been observed in a patient undergoing endocrine treatment and subsequently chemotherapy for locally advanced breast carcinoma using a whole body 3lP NMR system Glaholm et al. (1989). These findings suggest that the PMEs may be sensitive indicators of tumour cell response to treatment.In vitro studies of chemical extracts from samples of human breast tumours (Merchant et al., 1988) and human cell culture systems (Daly et al., 1987) have suggested that in breast tumours the PMEs consist principally of phosphoethanolamine (PE) with minor contributions from phosphocholine (PC) and several nucleoside monophosphates.In order to assess the extent to which in vitro NMR data are representative of tissue in vivo, and to assist in the interpretation of therapy-induced changes in in vivo spectra, we are comparing high resolution NMR spectra from extracts of human breast tumours with in vivo spectra from the same tumours prior to operation. The present study shows preliminary results from four patients which in three cases are compared with an assessment of necrotic fraction.In vivo measurements were performed using a 1. (Graham et al., 1987). D20 (final concentration 10%) and methylene diphosphonic acid (2.5 gmoles) were added to the aqueous phase of the extract and the pH was adjusted to 7.4. NMR analysis of the aqueous extracts was carried out on a Bruker Spectrospin AC250 spectrometer operating at 101 MHz (for 31P). All measurements were performed under proton-decoupled conditions in a 10 mm probe. At least 2,000 acquisitions were obtained from each sample. The parameters used for each acquisition were: sweep width 7937 Hz; acquisition time 0.5 ms; acquisition ...
An immunohistochemical study of c-erbB-2 expression was carried out on in situ (non-invasive) breast carcinoma, using antibody 21N, raised to the intracytoplasmic domain of the c-erbB-2 oncogene product. Strong membrane staining was observed in 44 out of 74 (59 per cent) cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), but none of 48 lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) lesions. A detailed comparative morphological evaluation using several different parameters, including histological subtypes, was performed within the DCIS group. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between c-erbB-2 expression and the presence of large cell size, periductal lymphoid cell infiltration, marked nuclear pleomorphism, multinucleation, and a high mitotic rate. Of these, cell size appears to be the most important predictor of c-erbB-2 status, followed by the presence of periductal lymphoid cell infiltration. These results indicate, firstly, that LCIS and DCIS are biologically (as well as histologically) different and, secondly, that a subgroup of DCIS, which is associated with c-erbB-2 over-expression, exists and appears to have distinct histological features. The subgroup of DCIS cases which over-express c-erbB-2 may be a biologically definable category with prognostic importance. These results may therefore have relevance to breast screening programmes, but a larger study incorporating clinical data would be necessary to correlate these findings with clinical outcome.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.