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Published on: April 11, 2016

KIT (CD117)-positive breast cancers are infrequent and lack KIT gene mutations

Ronald Simon1, Soti Panussis, Robert Maurer

  • 1Institute of Pathology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Clinical Cancer Research : an Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
|January 22, 2004
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

KIT (CD117) overexpression is rare in breast cancer, occurring in only 2.6% of tumors. The study found no KIT mutations, suggesting STI571 (Gleevec) therapy may not be effective for breast cancer patients.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Research

Background:

  • KIT (CD117) is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase targeted by STI571 (Gleevec).
  • KIT overexpression and mutations are implicated in the favorable response of some solid tumors to STI571.
  • Understanding KIT's role in breast cancer is crucial for potential targeted therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of KIT overexpression and mutations in a large cohort of breast cancers.
  • To determine if KIT expression in breast cancer is associated with specific clinicopathological features.
  • To assess the potential for STI571 therapy in KIT-positive breast cancers.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 1654 breast cancer cases using immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray.
  • Investigation of KIT expression in normal breast epithelium and tumor tissues.
  • Mutation analysis of key KIT exons (2, 8, 9, 11, 13, 17) in KIT-positive tumors.

Main Results:

  • KIT expression was detected in 2.6% (43/1654) of breast cancers, with higher frequency in medullary carcinoma (19.1%).
  • KIT expression was significantly associated with high tumor grade but not with patient survival or tumor stage.
  • No KIT mutations were identified in the analyzed KIT-positive breast tumors.

Conclusions:

  • High-level KIT expression is infrequent in breast cancer and may not represent true "up-regulation" due to normal epithelial expression.
  • The absence of KIT mutations suggests limited therapeutic benefit of STI571 for breast cancer.
  • Further research is needed to explore other potential therapeutic targets in breast cancer.

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