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NASBA: a novel approach to assess hormonal receptors and ERBB2 status in breast cancer

  • Pierre-Jean Lamy , Thibault Verjat , Malick Paye , Anne-Claire Servanton , Jean Grenier , Philippe Leissner and Bruno Mougin
Published/Copyright: December 23, 2005
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Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 44 Issue 1

Abstract

In human breast cancer, estrogen receptor-α (ERα), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor (ERBB2) status are currently determined using different techniques. We propose to assess the mRNA expression of these three clinically relevant markers using a unique technique, real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA). Gene expression of hormone receptors was analyzed and compared to the cytosolic functional protein content as determined with a ligand binding assay (LBA), while ERBB2 mRNA expression was compared to quantitative PCR and ELISA. We observed that the three markers are significantly overexpressed at the mRNA level in positive tumors, as measured by DNA- or protein-based techniques. Biostatistical analysis of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated high concordance between NASBA and LBA [area under the curve (AUC) for ROC of 0.899] and showed that ERα status could be predicted using the molecular assay with a sensitivity of 72.7% and a specificity of 93.5%. Similar results were obtained for PR (AUC ROC 0.938, sensitivity 75.3%, specificity 100%). Moreover, excellent concordance was observed between NASBA, quantitative PCR and ELISA with respect to ERBB2 (AUC ROC 0.92, sensitivity 90%, specificity 89.7%; and AUC ROC 0.98, sensitivity 100%, specificity 91.5%, respectively). These results suggest that NASBA is well suited for assessing ER, PR and ERBB2 status in breast tumor samples. This approach is rapid, highly sensitive and a standardized method that could be complementary to the existing techniques, especially for small tumors.

Keywords: breast cancer; ERBB2; hormone receptors; nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA)
Corresponding author: Philippe Leissner, Département Génétique Humaine, bioMérieux, Chemin de l'Orme, Marcy l'Etoile, France Phone: +33-4-78877581, Fax: +33-4-78875340,

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Received: 2005-9-7
Accepted: 2005-10-8
Published Online: 2005-12-23
Published in Print: 2006-1-1

©2006 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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https://doi.org/10.1515/CCLM.2006.002
Keywords for this article
breast cancer; ERBB2; hormone receptors; nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA)

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Where does the evidence come from?
  2. NASBA: a novel approach to assess hormonal receptors and ERBB2 status in breast cancer
  3. Plasma cell-free DNA as an indicator of severity of injury in burn patients
  4. Bivariate statistical approach to evaluate laboratory performance by analysis of standard curves in an External Quality Assurance program for quantitative assays based on real-time PCR with Taq-Man™ probes
  5. Erythrocyte membrane acetylcholinesterase activity in subjects with MTHFR 677C→T genotype
  6. Plasma levels of tumor M2-pyruvate kinase should not be used as a tumor marker for hematological malignancies and solid tumors
  7. APO A-V–1131T→C polymorphism frequency and its association with morbidity in a Brazilian elderly population
  8. Association study between fibronectin and coronary heart disease
  9. Serum calcium and phosphorus associate with the occurrence and severity of angiographically documented coronary heart disease, possibly through correlation with atherogenic (apo)lipoproteins
  10. Urinary calcium excretion in severe preeclampsia and eclampsia
  11. In vitro re-mineralization of demineralized bone matrix in human serum
  12. Measurement of serum amyloid A1 (SAA1), a major isotype of acute phase SAA
  13. Disturbed lipoprotein composition in non-dialyzed, hemodialysis, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and post-transplant patients with chronic renal failure
  14. Measurement of serum testosterone using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry
  15. Quantitative bacterial micro-assay for rapid detection of serum phenylalanine on dry blood-spots: application in phenylketonuria screening
  16. N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide: normal ranges in the pediatric population including method comparison and interlaboratory variability
  17. A new quality control model using performance goals based on biological variation in External Quality Assurance Schemes
  18. Improvement in glycemic control over 11 years in patients monitored for diabetes in one county
  19. The clinical usefulness of glucose tolerance testing in gestational diabetes to predict early postpartum diabetes mellitus
  20. Analytical performance of a new two-step ADVIA Centaur® estradiol immunoassay during ovarian stimulation
  21. EC4 European Syllabus for Post-Graduate Training in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine: version 3 – 2005
  22. POX-Act assay and d-ROMs test – what are the facts?
  23. External quality control of urinary methyl malonic acid quantification – announcement of a pilot study
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