Breast-Specific Marker to Aid Cancer Detection

Irish researchers have measured the expression of the MGA, MGB, and LPB genes, all associated with breast cancer, and have found that MGA may be one of the first mammary-gland-specific markers, which could lead to a simple test for early breast cancer or metastasis.

The research team examined a total of 21 normal breast tissue samples, 32 fibroadenoma samples, and 142 breast carcinoma tissue samples. Breast cancer tissues were assayed for estrogen receptors and for a progesterone receptor using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Total RNA was extracted and cDNA amplification was performed.

The distribution of MGA, MGB, and LPB mRNA expression were examined in the samples. This revealed that a significant positive correlation existed between expression of MGA and LPB in breast carcinomas. However, MGA was found more frequently in estrogen receptor-positive versus estrogen receptor-negative carcinomas (72% vs 45%), while MGB showed no relationship to estrogen-receptor status. Among 97 cancers studied for all three genes, nearly half (41%) were positive for MGA, MGB, and LPB, while 78% expressed at least one of them. MGA was found in only one sample of 24 nonmalignant nonbreast tissues and was absent in eight nonbreast carcinomas.

The study was conducted by researchers at St. Vincent's University Hospital and University College in Dublin (Ireland) and was published in the August 1, 2002, issue of Clinical Chemistry (www.clinchem.org), the scientific journal of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC).




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