Loss of FHIT Expression in Breast Cancer Is Correlated with Poor Prognostic Markers

Abstract

Objective: The fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene is a putative tumor suppressor gene that is thought to be involved in the carcinogenesis of breast cancer. Loss of FHIT expression has been observed in up to 72% of breast cancers and has been associated with increased p53, a high proliferation index, and increased tumor size and grade. However, loss of FHIT expression has not been investigated in association with apoptosis and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in breast cancer. Furthermore, expression of FHIT in primary breast tumors and their metastatic axillary lymph nodes has also not been previously described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of FHIT, COX-2, bcl-2, and p53 in primary breast tumor tissue; correlate their expression with known clinical and pathologic markers; and in cases when tissue was available, evaluate the expression of FHIT and COX-2 in the corresponding metastatic axillary lymph node in the same patient.