Application of a Multigene RT-PCR assay for the detection of Mammaglobin and complementary transcribed genes in breast cancer lymph nodes

摘要

Background: Mammaglobin mRNA expression is found in 70-80 % of primary and metastatic breast tumor biopsies. The potential breast tumor markers B305D, B726P and GABAπ complement the expression of mammaglobin. Collectively the expression profile of these four genes could be utilized as a diagnostic and prognostic indicator for breast cancer.Methods: A multigene RT-PCR assay was established to detect the expression of mammaglobin, GABAπ, B305D and B726P simultaneously. Specific primers and Taqman® probes were used to analyze combined mRNA expression profiles in primary breast tumors and metastatic lymph node specimens.Results: The multigene RT-PCR assay detected significant expression signals in 27/27 primary and in 50/50 lymph-node-metastatic breast tumor samples. Specificity studies demonstrated no significant expression signal in 27 non-breast cancer lymph nodes, in 22 various normal tissues or in 14 colon tumor samples.Conclusion: The novel RT-PCR-based assay described here provides a sensitive detection system for disseminated breast tumor cells in lymph nodes. In addition, this multigene assay could also be used to test peripheral blood and bone marrow samples.