mutation, methylation and expression in breast cancer patients.

The tumor suppressor gene, , has previously been demonstrated to be involved in breast tumorigenesis and tumor progression. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression and significance of in breast carcinomas, to detect the mutation frequency of in sporadic breast carcinoma tissues and to determine the association between promoter methylation and gene expression. Immunohistochemical methods were used to analyze the expression of the gene in 146 cases of breast carcinoma and 10 cases of normal breast tissue closely adjacent to the carcinoma.