BRCA1 expression status in relation to DNA methylation of the BRCA1 promoter region in sporadic breast cancers

To understand the biological role of BRCA1 in sporadic breast cancers, the relationship between DNA methylation of the BRCA1 promoter region and BRCA1 expression was studied using molecular biological and immunohistochemical methods. Furthermore, BRCA1 expression was compared with the expression of various cell cycle regulatory proteins and the morphological nuclear grade of cancer cells. Of 32 sporadic breast cancers investigated in this study, 10 (31%) revealed DNA methylation of the BRCA1 promoter region. The expression of BRCA1 was observed in the nuclei of cancer cells and 18 (56%) of 32 cancers were positive for BRCA1 immunoreactivity, Breast cancers with BRCA1 methylation lacked BRCA1 expression, except for only three cancers, and there was a significant inverse relationship between BRCA1 methylation and its expression in sporadic breast cancers (P=0.043). Compared with the expression of various cell cycle regulatory proteins, breast cancers with BRCA1 methylation showed decreased expression of estrogen receptor (P=0.016) and p27 (P=0.018) and increased expression of p21 (P=0.011). Furthermore, breast cancers without BRCA1 expression or with BRCA1 methylation had a tendency to contain nuclei with higher grade. These findings indicate that BRCA1 methylation might greatly influence its expression and BRCA1 expression might play an important role in cell cycle regulation and influence the grade of malignancy of sporadic breast cancers.