DNA Copy Number Aberrations in Breast Cancer by Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization

Array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) has been popularly used for analyzing DNA copy number variations in diseases like cancer. In this study, we investigated 82 sporadic samples from 49 breast cancer patients using 1-Mb resolution bacterial artificial chromosome CGH arrays. A number of highly frequent genomic aberrations were discovered, which may act as "drivers" of tumor progression. Meanwhile, the genomic profiles of four "normal" breast tissue samples taken at least 2 cm away from the primary tumor sites were also found to have some genomic aberrations that recurred with high frequency in the primary tumors, which may have important implications for clinical therapy. Additionally, we performed class comparison and class prediction for various clinicopathological parameters, and a list of characteristic genomic aberrations associated with different clinicopathological phenotypes was compiled. Our study provides clues for further investigations of the underlying mechanisms of breast carcinogenesis.