PMC

Correlation of BRCA1/2 mutational status or BRCA1/2 protein expression to the PSA response to docetaxel. Waterfall plots for the percentage PSA change after docetaxel treatment stratified into BRCA1/2 mutation status (A), BRCA1 protein expression (B) or BRCA2 protein expression (C). The dotted line indicates the threshold for defining a PSA response (PSA decline ≥50%). The y axis was cut off at 100%.

Heterogeneity in BRCA1/2 protein expression and BRCA1/2 mutational status. Immunohistochemical staining for BRCA1, BRCA2 or Ki-67 in four representative tumors. Note that the two BRCA1/2 wildtype tumors showed either a strong nucleocytoplasmic expression of both BRCA1 and BRCA2 or a weak cytoplasmic expression of both proteins. BRCA2 mutated tumors show a partial loss of BRCA2 protein expression but such a loss was also detectable in BRCA1/2 wildtype tumors (e.g., second row from the bottom). Scale bar = 50 µm.

BRCA2 mutation status and patient survival. (A,B) Kaplan Meier curves showing time to castration resistance in 45 men who were wildtype for BRCA2 and eight men with a deleterious BRCA2 mutation (A). Overall survival (B) was significantly shorter in six men with a BRCA2 mutation in comparison to 40 men who carried the wildtype gene (p = 0.029; log-rank test). Differences in the patient number in (B) are due to the fact that seven men were lost to follow up.

BRCA2 mutation status and response to docetaxel. Waterfall plot showing the PSA responses (% PSA change) in 53 men with primary metastatic or locally advanced prostate cancer. The dotted line indicates the threshold for defining a PSA response (PSA decline ≥50%). Changes in the protein coding sequence are given for all patients with a BRCA2 mutation. There was a statistically significant correlation between the presence of a BRCA2 mutation and the response to docetaxel (p = 0.019, Fisher’s Exact test). The circumflex denotes a patient who carried a known germline BRCA2 mutations that was also present in the tumor and whose course of disease has previously been reported. The y axis was cut off at 100%.