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Synergistic cooperation between c-Myc and Bcl-2 in lymph node progression of T1 human breast carcinomas

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Abstract

The overexpression of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic oncogene, identifies human T1 breast cancer patients who have an increased risk of lymph-node metastasis. We examined in these patients (n=142) whether the c-Myc oncogene influences metastatic progression in conjunction or not with Bcl-2 expression and the loss of apoptosis in tumors. The association between Bcl-2 and lymph-node metastasis was only significant when c-Myc was concomitantly expressed (χ2 test, p=0.008). Moreover, very large associations (pOR=6.4) between c-Myc and lymph-node metastasis were observed among Bcl-2 positive tumors and tumors with loss of apoptosis (pOR=8.4). In contrast, the metastatic advantage linked to Bcl-2 was decreased (pOR=2) when c-Myc was not coexpressed. It is concluded that the synergism between Bcl-2 and c-Myc oncogenes may promote metastasis in breast tumors, linked to loss of apoptosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dpt. Cancer i Metàstasis, Institut de Recerca Oncològica (I.R.O.), Spain

    Angels Sierra & Angels Fabra

  2. Servei d'Epidemiologia, Registre del Càncer, Institut Català d'Oncologia (I.C.O.), Spain

    Xavier Castellsague

  3. Servei d'Oncologia, Institut Català d'Oncologia (I.C.O.), Hospital Duran i Reynals, Ciutat Sanitaria i Universitaria de Bellvitge (C.S.U.B.), Barcelona, Spain

    Agustin Escobedo

  4. Serv. d'Anatomia Patològica, C.S.U.B., Barcelona, Spain

    Abelardo Moreno

  5. Instituto Europeo di Oncología, Milano, Italy

    Teresa Drudis

Authors
  1. Angels Sierra
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  2. Xavier Castellsague
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  3. Agustin Escobedo
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  4. Abelardo Moreno
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  5. Teresa Drudis
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  6. Angels Fabra
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Sierra, A., Castellsague, X., Escobedo, A. et al. Synergistic cooperation between c-Myc and Bcl-2 in lymph node progression of T1 human breast carcinomas. Breast Cancer Res Treat 54, 39–45 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006120006471

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