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Prognostic significance of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase expression in breast cancer

British Journal of Cancer volume 86, pages 222–225 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

We have investigated dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase expression as a prognostic marker in breast cancer. A total of 119 women with breast cancer undergoing surgery between 1985 and 1996 were included in this study. Eighty-seven patients were treated with postoperative chemotherapy including 5-fluorouracil or 5-fluorouracil derivatives. Fifty-nine (50%) of 119 patients were determined to be immunostaining-positive for dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase. There was no significant difference between dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase staining and tumour size, lymph node status, clinical stage, oestrogen receptor status, histologic grade, or 5-fluorouracil administration. When evaluated in patients treated with 5-fluorouracil or 5-fluorouracil derivatives, patients with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase-positive tumours had a significantly (P<0.05) poorer disease-free survival compared to those with dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase-negative tumour. No conclusion can be drawn about the prognostic impact of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase status in patients who were not treated with 5-fluorouracil regimes due to the small number of such cases in this series. Lymph node and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase status were independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival, and lymph node status for overall survival using multivariate analysis. In conclusion, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase is a possible prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer treated with 5-fluorouracil or 5-fluorouracil derivatives.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Surgery, Gunma University Faculty of Medicine, Showa-machi 3-39-15, Maebashi, 371-8511, Gunma, Japan

    J Horiguchi, H Takei, Y Koibuchi, K Iijima, J Ninomiya, K Uchida, R Ochiai, M Yoshida & Y Morishita

  2. Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Gunma University Faculty of Medicine, Showa-machi 3-39-15, Maebashi, 371-8511, Gunma, Japan

    T Yokoe & Y Iino

Authors
  1. J Horiguchi
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  2. H Takei
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  3. Y Koibuchi
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  4. K Iijima
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  5. J Ninomiya
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  6. K Uchida
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  7. R Ochiai
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  8. M Yoshida
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  9. T Yokoe
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  10. Y Iino
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  11. Y Morishita
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Correspondence to J Horiguchi.

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Horiguchi, J., Takei, H., Koibuchi, Y. et al. Prognostic significance of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase expression in breast cancer. Br J Cancer 86, 222–225 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6600040

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6600040

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