Amplification of EMSY gene in a subset of sporadic pancreatic adenocarcinomas.

Mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility gene 2 (BRCA2) are commonly found in familial pancreatic cancer. Recently, EMSY (11q13.5) has been described as a BRCA2 interacting protein capable of binding and inactivating the protein domain encoded by exon 3 of the BRCA2 gene. Amplification of EMSY occurs in 13% of sporadic breast cancers and is directly linked to increased expression. Here we investigate the amplification status of this new potential oncogene in 59 sporadic pancreatic cancers using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and tissue microarray (TMA). Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was performed on 20 pancreatic cancer cell lines and overexpression was calculated using the delta-delta-Ct-method. Amplification of EMSY was found in 8/59 cases (13.6%). 9/20 (45%) cell line samples showed overexpression of EMSY. In conclusion, sporadic pancreatic cancer shows amplification of EMSY at prevalence similar to that found in other cancers.