Clinical significance of Akt and HER2/neu overexpression in African-American and Latina women with breast cancer.

Introduction: Breast cancer patients with HER2/neu overexpression have poor outcomes with a decrease in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival. The biology of HER2/neu overexpression in breast tumors in African-American and Latina women is poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to understand the clinical significance of activated Akt (phospho-Akt or pAkt) expression in breast tumors from African-American and Latina patients with corresponding tissue HER2/neu overexpression.

Plasma vascular endothelial growth factor is useful in assessing progression of breast cancer post surgery and during adjuvant treatment.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been shown to induce angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro. However, the association of plasma VEGF with tumor histopathology in high risk groups such as African American and non-white Hispanic women with breast cancer is not well understood. There is limited information on the prognostic relevance of plasma VEGF in patients who have had surgery and adjuvant treatment for breast cancer.

Missense alterations of BRCA1 gene detected in diverse cancer patients.

The mutations in the breast cancer susceptible gene BRCA1 are responsible for about 50% of inherited breast cancers and confer increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer to its carriers. BRCA1 gene mutations may also be related with other types of cancers such as prostate cancer and colorectal cancer. The goal of this study was to investigate if BRCA1 mutation could be detected in diverse types of cancers.

Mutation analysis of BRCA1 gene in African-American patients with breast cancer.

An estimated 7% of all breast cancers and 10% of all ovarian cancers are associated with inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The mutations of a breast cancer-susceptible gene, BRCA1, confers increased risk of breast cancer in young women. Numerous studies have reported specific mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the white population.

Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I and serum IGF-binding protein 3 can be associated with the progression of breast cancer, and predict the risk of recurrence and the probability of survival in African-American and Hispanic women.

In vitro studies have shown that insulin-like growth factor (IGF) is a mitogen for breast cancer cells. However, the associations of plasma IGF-I with tumor histopathology in high-risk groups need further investigation. We hypothesize that plasma IGF-I and serum IGFBP3 concentrations in breast cancer patients may provide useful information on the progression of their disease, and determine the probability of recurrence and survival.