MS-MLPA: an attractive alternative laboratory assay for robust, reliable, and semiquantitative detection of MGMT promoter hypermethylation in gliomas.

Expression of the DNA repair protein O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (AGT), encoded by the O6-methylguanine (O6-mG) -DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) DNA repair gene, results in resistance to alkylating agents, and hypermethylation of the MGMT promoter is associated with chemosensitivity as it prevents AGT expression. As the interpretation of the results of immunohistochemistry to evaluate AGT expression proved to be difficult, the aim of our present study is to establish a feasible, reliable, and robust method for MGMT promoter hypermethylation testing that can be easily implemented in a diagnostic setting and is applicable to routinely processed tissue. MGMT hypermethylation analysis using methylation-specific (MS-) multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) was performed on 62 glioma samples of 55 individual tumors (including 12 cell lines) and compared to the more conventionally used, but improved, MS-polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Uncommon breast tumors in perspective: incidence, treatment and survival in the Netherlands.

The relatively small group of patients with breast tumors other than the ductal, lobular or mixed ducto-lobular types, has reached nonnegligible numbers due to the ongoing increase in the incidence of breast cancer. We investigated stage and grade distribution of uncommon breast tumors using the nation-wide Netherlands Cancer Registry (population 16.5 million) and incidence patterns, treatment and long-term survival (up to 19 years) using the regional Eindhoven Cancer Registry (population 2.