Two Prognostic Groups of Inflammatory Breast Cancer Have Distinct Genotypes

• Published in: Clinical cancer research Vol. 9; no. 11; pp. 4184 - 4189
• Main Authors: LEREBOURS, Florence, BERTHEAU, Philippe, BIECHE, Ivan, PLASSA, Louis-Francois, CHAMPEME, Marie-Helene, HACENE, Kamel, TOULAS, Christine, ESPIE, Marc, MARTY, Michel, LIDEREAU, Rosette
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA American Association for Cancer Research 15.09.2003
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Biopsy; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Chromosome Mapping; Female; Genotype; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Loss of Heterozygosity - genetics; Mammary gland diseases; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasm Staging; Prognosis; Survival Analysis; Time Factors; Tumors; Human; Mammary gland diseases; Allele; Prognosis; Loss of heterozygosity; Genetics; Female; Genotype; Inflammation; Mammary gland; Malignant tumor
• ISSN: 1078-0432; 1557-3265

Purpose: The prognosis of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) remains poor despite the use of multimodality treatments, with a 10-year survival rate of not >30%. Clinicopathological and biological predictors of outcome are inadequate in this setting. Analysis of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) can provide a molecular portrait of the genetic alterations underlying stepwise cancer progression. We tested the value of LOH patterns as diagnostic and prognostic markers in IBC. Experimental design: In a previous study of 64 patients with IBC who were treated homogeneously between 1988 and 1999, we determined LOH frequencies at 71 loci located in 20 chromosomal regions associated with primary breast cancer. Six of these regions bore alterations that were less frequent in non-IBC. In the present study, we sought correlations between these molecular data and the clinicopathological features and clinical outcome of the same 64 patients. Results: With the exception of stage IV disease, extensive breast inflammation at first clinical examination was the main factor associated with poor outcome ( P = 0.00065 versus localized inflammation). The overall frequency of LOH was also higher in this group ( P = 0.000073). LOH patterns differed between patients with localized and extensive breast inflammation. Conclusion: Patients with IBC can be separated into two major prognostic groups on the basis of initial clinical signs, which appear to be subtended by different molecular alterations.