TP53 mutations are associated with a particular pattern of genomic imbalances in breast carcinomas

TP53 mutations play an important role in the development of several cancers and are present in 20–40% of all breast carcinomas, contributing to increased genomic instability. In order to address the relationship of mutated TP53 to genomic complexity, the present study analysed 61 breast carcinomas for TP53 mutations and compared mutation status with the pattern of genomic imbalances as assessed by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Twenty per cent of the present series of breast carcinomas harboured TP53 mutations. An increasing number of abnormalities, as identified by CGH (higher genomic complexity), correlated significantly with mutant TP53. Among the chromosome arms most commonly altered (in more than 20% of the tumours), loss of 8p and gain of 8q were associated with TP53 mutations, whereas loss of 16q was associated with wild‐type TP53. By performing supervised hierarchical clustering analysis of the CGH data, a cluster of chromosome imbalances was observed that showed differences between wild‐type and mutant TP53 cases. Among these, loss of chromosome arm 5q revealed the strongest correlation with altered TP53. To investigate further the most commonly deleted region of 5q, gene expression patterns from two publicly available microarray data sets of breast carcinomas were evaluated statistically. The expression data sets identified potential target genes, including genes involved in ubiquitination and the known TP53 target CSPG2. The genomic complexity of breast carcinomas as assessed by CGH is associated with TP53 mutation status; breast cancers with TP53 mutations display more complex genomes than do those with wild‐type TP53. The pattern of genomic imbalances associated with mutant TP53 is non‐random, with loss of chromosome arm 5q being particularly closely associated with TP53 mutations. Copyright © 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.