Identification of genetic alterations in thai breast cancer patients by arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. Genetic alterations prevalent in breast cancer are still being elucidated. In this report, changes in 30 breast cancer tissues, in comparison with normal tissues from Thai patients, were analyzed by arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR). Genetic instability was detected by DNA fingerprinting obtained with 13 of 60 random primers. Of these, at least one amplification band, the incidence ranging from 27 to 80%, was observed in DNA amplified with 8 primers, whereas a band loss was exhibited with from 6 primers, the incidences ranging from 23 to 40%. Likewise, an amplification band amplified from primer D15 was observed in 80% of this patient group and a band loss produced from primer B12 presented in 40% of all cases. These results showed that AP-PCR is effective for the detection of genetic alterations in breast cancer tissues.