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Flow cytometric DNA hypertetraploidy tends to be more frequent in male than in female breast cancers

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore possible differences in DNA flow cytometric characteristics, particularly differences in distribution of DNA indices of aneuploid clones, between male and female breast cancers. We retrospectively analyzed 31 male breast cancers. Clinicopathological and DNA flow cytometric characteristics of male breast cancers (patient age, tumor size, histological type, histological grade, axillary lymph node status, hormone receptor expression, ploidy, and S-phase fraction) were compared with that of the control group of matched female breast cancers. Hormone receptors and HER-2/neu were investigated immunohistochemically with additional chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) analysis of HER-2/neu 2+ cases. Ploidy and S-phase fraction were determined by DNA flow cytometry. Comparison with clinicopathological features was made using χ 2 and t test. Aneuploidy was found in 78 % of the cases, with the predomination of hypotetraploid clones (39 %), followed by tetraploid (23 %) and hypertetraploid clones (16 %). We found higher frequency of hypertetraploidy in male breast cancers (16 and 6 %, respectively) than in the control group of matched female breast cancers. Clinicopathological features of hypertetraploid male breast cancers did not differ from that of non-hypertetraploid cancers. Higher frequency of hypertetraploidy among male breast cancers might indicate different cytogenetical evolutionary pathway between male and female breast cancer.

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We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Cytology, Clinical Hospital Center Split, Spinčićeva 1, HR-21000, Split, Croatia

    Joško Bezić, Ivana Šamija Projić, Petar Projić, Jelena Ljubković, Sandra Zekić Tomaš, Marina Piljić Burazer & Snježana Tomić

  2. Institute of Pathology, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia

    Kristina Meljanac Salopek

Authors
  1. Joško Bezić
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  2. Ivana Šamija Projić
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  3. Petar Projić
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  4. Jelena Ljubković
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  5. Sandra Zekić Tomaš
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  6. Kristina Meljanac Salopek
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  7. Marina Piljić Burazer
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  8. Snježana Tomić
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Correspondence to Joško Bezić.

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Bezić, J., Šamija Projić, I., Projić, P. et al. Flow cytometric DNA hypertetraploidy tends to be more frequent in male than in female breast cancers. Virchows Arch 466, 185–189 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-014-1694-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-014-1694-3

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