Project description:A total of 38 flash-frozen breast cancer tissues were collected from three medical centers in the Netherlands (i.e. National Cancer institute: n=19; Radboud University Medical Center: n=4; Erasmus University Medical Center: n=15). All tissues were analyzed as laser capture microdissected (LCM) and whole samples (whole tissue lysate: WTL). All gathered samples were primary estrogen receptor (ER) tumors, which were subdivided in two patient groups according to outcome to first line (i.e. recurrent disease setting) tamoxifen therapy based on time-to-progression (TTP): patients which manifested progression of disease before (i.e. TTP <=) 6 months were defined as "poor outcome", while patients which manifested progression after (i.e. TTP>) 6 months were defined as "good outcome". All patients did not receive adjuvant hormonal therapy (i.e. tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors post-surgical resection of primary tumor). The LCM subset derives from PXD000484 (Erasmus Medical Center samples) and PXD000485 (National Cancer Institute and Radboud University Medical Center).
Project description:Sixteen paired matched samples from primary breast cancers and brain metastases diagnosed between April 1, 2001 and December 31, 2012 were collected from 8 institutions. Brain metastases were identified based on magnetic resonance imaging and/or computed tomography findings. The clinical characteristics of all the patients were obtained from their medical records. This study was approved by the institutional review board of each participating institute (Tokai University School of Medicine; National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital; Kinki University School of Medicine; Niigata Cancer Center Hospital; Shizuoka General Hospital; Hokkaido Cancer Center; National Hospital Organization, Tokyo Medical Center; and Gunma Prefectural Cancer Center). Matching primary breast cancers and brain metastases Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) specimens for gene expression analysis were collected into RNA. RNA from specimens was isolated, and quantity and quality of the each RNA was using an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies). Genome-wide expression levels of transcripts were analyzed using the Affymetrix U133A gene chips (Affymetrix) according to the manufacture’s instructions.
