Real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in detecting expression of ERα, PR and Her2 mRNA in breast cancer tissues

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR) in detecting expression of estrogen receptor alpha(ERα),progesterone receptor(PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(Her2) genes in breast cancer tissues.Methods Totally 48 breast cancer tissues and 28 benign breast tumor tissues(control) were obtained from patients undergoing surgery in our hospital during Mar.2010 and Oct.2010.The expression of ERα,PR and Her2 protein was examined by immunohistochemistry(IHC) in breast cancer tissues and the expression levels of ERα,PR and Her2 mRNA were detected by real-time qRT-PCR in breast cancer tissues and benign breast tumor tissues.The values of these two methods in diagnosis of breast cancer were evaluated. Results The expressions of ERα and Her2 mRNA were significantly higher in the breast cancer tissues than in the controls(P0.05,P0.01),while the expression of PR mRNA had no significant difference between controls and breast cancer tissues.ERα,PR and Her2 protein expressions were associated with the TNM stage of breast cancer, with the former two being negatively associated with TNM stages(P0.05) and Her2 being positively associated with TNM stages(P0.05).The expressions of ERα and Her2 mRNA were significantly higher in breast cancer tissues of patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without lymph node metastasis(P0.05).The expression of PR mRNA was not significantly different in breast cancer tissues between patients with and without lymph node metastasis(P0.05).Real-time qRT-PCR in detecting ERα,PR and Her2 mRNA expression had similar capability with IHC method in evaluating the sensitivity,specificity of endocrine therapy;moreover,the two methods also had a consistent pathological diagnosis rates(P0.05).Conclusion ERα,PR and Her2 genes are important predictive markers for endocrine therapy or targeted therapy of breast cancer.Real-time qRT-PCR method can be used for clinical detection and research of ERα,PR and Her2 mRNA.