Bfl-1 Gene Expression in Breast Cancer: Its Relationship with other Prognostic Factors.
10.3346/jkms.2003.18.2.225
- Author:
Ho Sung YOON
1
;
Sung Hee HONG
;
Hee Jun KANG
;
Byung Kyun KO
;
Sei Hyun AHN
;
Joo Ryung HUH
Author Information
1. Department of Surgery, University of Ulsan, College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center and Ulsan University Hospital, Seoul, Korea. hsyoon@amc.seoul.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Keywords:
Breast Neoplasms;
Bfl-1;
Prognosis;
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- MeSH:
Adult;
Aged;
Aged, 80 and over;
Breast Neoplasms/genetics;
Breast Neoplasms/metabolism*;
Breast Neoplasms/pathology*;
Female;
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic;
Human;
Middle Aged;
Prognosis;
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/genetics*;
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2003;18(2):225-230
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The Bfl-1 gene, which was isolated from human fetal liver and only recently described, is a member of the Bcl-2 gene family. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction was performed on RNA drawn from 30 breast cancer tissues to compare the expression of the Bfl-1 gene with other prognostic factors. The median relative ratio was 3.0 (range, 0.12-26.83) and the Bfl-1 gene expression rate was 36.7% (11/30). There was no statistically significant relationship between the clinicopathologic parameters of patients and the expression value of Bfl-1 gene. The level of Bfl-1 gene expression was higher in more advanced breast cancers than in early cancers. There was no significant relationship between the expression values and currently acknowledged prognostic factors, but a higher expression pattern was noticed in the groups of positive hormone receptors and negative p53 and negative c-erbB2, albeit statistically not significant. It seems that the increased expression of the Bfl-1 gene serves as a contributory factor in breast cancer, in the same way that another group of genes, the Bcl-2 family, contributes to apoptosis.
