Expression of ras Rb1 and p53 proteins in human breast cancer.

The ras, Rb and p53 genes have been implicated in the development of human breast cancer. Qualitative or quantitative changes in the expression of the ras p21 may lead to cell transformation, and this has been previously demonstrated in breast cancer. Both the retinoblastoma protein (Rb1) and the p53 gene product appear to function as negative regulators of cell division. We have investigated the expression of ras p21, Rb1 and p53 proteins in human breast cancer patients immunohistochemically, and correlated the results with a range of clinical and pathological parameters. Ras p21 expression was elevated in 65 per cent and p53 in 23 per cent of cases. Rb1 was expressed in 58 per cent of breast cancer tissues and in 75 per cent of normal tissue. Only four patients were found to have loss of Rb1 expression and also overexpression of both p53 and ras gene products. No correlations were found between the expression of these three genes and menopausal status, histological types or tumour grade. However, a correlation was found between Rb1 loss of expression and tumour diameter (greater than 2 cms), and no lymph node metastasis. Also, a significantly higher number of p53 staining specimens were found to be overexpressing the ras gene. These results suggest that all three oncogenes are most likely involved in the development of breast cancer but that their role is complex.