CORRESPONDENCE

Re: Distinct Altered Patterns of p27KIP1 Gene Expression in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Prostatic Carcinoma

Mark A. Rubin

Correspondence to: Mark A. Rubin, M.D., Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, 2G332, Box 0054, 1500 E. Medical Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0054 (e-mail: marubin{at}umich.edu).

I read with great interest the article by Cordon-Cardo et al. (1) on p27 gene expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic carcinoma.

The study suggests that p27 is an independent predictor of outcome. However, I note that in your final multivariant analysis, tumor stage was not included. It would be of great interest to see the results of the univariant analysis as well as the results of a multivariant analysis that included stage. This would be important, because most studies that look at recurrence, as measured by prostate-specific antigen elevations after surgery, find that tumor stage is an independent prognostic indicator.

REFERENCES

1 Cordon-Cardo C, Koff A, Drobnjak M, Capodieci P, Osman I, Millard SS, et al. Distinct altered patterns of p27KIP1 gene expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:1284-91.[Abstract/Free Full Text]


 

RESPONSE

Carlos Cordon-Cardo

Correspondence to: Carlos Cordon-Cardo, M.D., Ph.D., Division of Molecular Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY 10021

We believe that the issue raised by Dr. Rubin regarding our article (1) is quite appropriate. Dr. Rubin's request deals with the inclusion of stage as a variable in both univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. For the univariate analysis, stage did not reach statistical significance in the cohort of patients studied (P =.11; hazard ratio = 1.63). For the multivariate analysis, inclusion of stage did not affect the significance of p27 status (P = .03 after adjustments), while stage by itself was not significant [P = .12; Table 1 in (1)].

REFERENCES

1 Cordon-Cardo C, Koff A, Drobnjak M, Capodieci P, Osman I, Millard SS, et al. Distinct altered phenotype of p27KIP1 gene expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:1284-91.[Abstract/Free Full Text]


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