[Cancer of the breast. Genetic alterations and prognostic factors]

The etiology of breast cancer is thought to involve a complex interplay of various factors, among them: genetic alterations. Multiple studies have been made to identify and characterize mutations that frequently occur during tumorigenesis. In human breast cancer, some of these alterations involve implication of proto-oncogenes (c-myc, c-erbB-2 and int-2) that have been shown to contribute to tumorigenesis by using the transgenic mouse model. Loss of heterozygoty represents the other important type of abnormalities that has been frequently observed in breast tumor DNAs; these specific genic deletions could inactivate or remove suppressor genes. In some studies, specific alterations have been associated with some clinical parameters, but have led to numerous controversies. Larger studies would be necessary to confirm some alterations as useful prognostic factors of the post-surgical course of the disease.