Open Access

Characterization of molecular subtypes of Korean breast cancer: An ethnically and clinically distinct population

  • Authors:
    • Wonshik Han
    • Monica Nicolau
    • Dong-Young Noh
    • Stefanie S. Jeffrey
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: July 1, 2010     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo_00000652
  • Pages: 51-59
Metrics: Total Views: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )
Total PDF Downloads: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )


Abstract

We aimed to investigate the molecular characteristics of Korean breast cancer. A cDNA microarray study (>42k clones) was performed on 69 breast cancers and three normal breast tissues. The subjects had a high percentage of HER-2 expression, hormone receptor negativity, and young onset. Molecular subtypes according to gene expression profiles were determined and their correlations to the clinicopathologic characteristics and patients outcome were analyzed. The tumors were subdivided into luminal-, normal breast-like, ERBB2+, and basal-like subtypes according to the correlations to the previously described intrinsic genes and five centroids. Only a few tumors were highly correlated to the luminal B and normal-like centroids. The high grade tumors with high p53 and Ki-67 were found more commonly in non-luminal tumors. Distant recurrence-free survival was worse in ERBB2+ and basal-like subgroups than luminal tumors. In an unsupervised clustering with 864 genes, many interesting gene clusters were observed, some of which had not been previously described. Although the Korean breast cancers showed generally similar molecular phenotypes as Western studies, some distinct gene expression patterns and their association to clinical outcomes were observed.

Related Articles

Journal Cover

July 2010
Volume 37 Issue 1

Print ISSN: 1019-6439
Online ISSN:1791-2423

Sign up for eToc alerts

Recommend to Library

Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Han W, Nicolau M, Noh D and Jeffrey SS: Characterization of molecular subtypes of Korean breast cancer: An ethnically and clinically distinct population. Int J Oncol 37: 51-59, 2010
APA
Han, W., Nicolau, M., Noh, D., & Jeffrey, S.S. (2010). Characterization of molecular subtypes of Korean breast cancer: An ethnically and clinically distinct population. International Journal of Oncology, 37, 51-59. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo_00000652
MLA
Han, W., Nicolau, M., Noh, D., Jeffrey, S. S."Characterization of molecular subtypes of Korean breast cancer: An ethnically and clinically distinct population". International Journal of Oncology 37.1 (2010): 51-59.
Chicago
Han, W., Nicolau, M., Noh, D., Jeffrey, S. S."Characterization of molecular subtypes of Korean breast cancer: An ethnically and clinically distinct population". International Journal of Oncology 37, no. 1 (2010): 51-59. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo_00000652