Clinicopathological and Functional Analysis of Hormone Related Gene in Breast Cancer

乳腺癌组织中雌激素受体（ER）α和孕激素受体（PgR）的评估对于区分乳腺癌依赖性和非依赖性肿瘤非常重要。为了探讨ERβ及其辅助因子在乳腺癌发生、发展中的作用，我们检测了ERα/β、PgR、使用免疫组织化学（IHC）和/或定量实时逆转录-描述了用于定量乳腺肿瘤中的ER α和PR的IHC方法，并且显示出与对内分泌治疗的相对响应性良好相关。乳腺肿瘤中ERβ的高表达与乳腺癌患者的预后较好相关，这一点使用IHC和实时PCR方法都显示出来。ERβ变体ERβcx表达改变的意义尚不清楚。由于乳腺癌患者中AIB 1表达增加，且与ER活性相关，因此检测AIB 1的mRNA和蛋白水平，未发现ERα和AIB 1 mRNA之间存在相关性，但与AIB 1核染色阴性的乳腺肿瘤患者相比，AIB 1核染色阳性的乳腺肿瘤患者倾向于对激素治疗有反应。ATBF 1-A是一个位于16 q22 -24的肿瘤抑制基因，也是乳腺癌的预后因子。ATBF 1-A表达可能是乳腺癌内分泌治疗的预测因子。

The assessment of the estrogen receptor (ER)α and the progesterone receptor (PgR) in breast cancer tissues is important for discriminating between hormone-dependent and hormone-independent tumors. However, the substantial roles of ERβ and co-factors in the development and progression of breast cancer remain to be elucidated.To evaluate the clinical significance of these factors in the response to endocrine therapy, we investigated the expressions of ERα/β, PgR, AIB 1 and NcoR1 in primary breast cancer tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR.An IHC method for quantifying ERa and PR in breast tumors was described, and shown to correlate well with the relative responsiveness to endocrine therapy. Higher expression of ERβ in breast tumors correlated with better prognosis of breast cancer patients, and this was shown using both IHC and real-time PCR methodologies. The significance of altered expression of an ERβ variant, ERβcx was unclear. Since AIB 1 expression in increased with breast cancer and correlates with ER activity, mRNA and protein levels of AIB 1 were measured and no correlation between ERα and AIB 1 mRNA was found. However, patients with breast tumors that stained positively for nuclear AIB 1 expression tended to respond to hormone therapy as compared to patients with breast tumors that did not show nuclear staining of AIB 1. Evidence was also presented suggesting that NCOR1 mRNA expression is higher in small, ERα-positive tumors, and those patients with higher expression exhibited better survival and responsiveness to tamoxifen.ATBF1-A is a tumor suppress gene located in 16q22-24 and also have a prognostic factor in breast cancer. ATBF1-A expression might have the ability of predictive factor of endocrine therapy in breast cancer.