©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 9 (1): 97-106 (2010) Mammaglobin and maspin transcripts in blood may relect disease progression and the effect of therapy in breast cancer O. Bitisik 1 , P. Saip 2 , S. Saglam 2 , D. Derin 2 and N. Dalay 1 1 Department of Basic Oncology, Oncology Institute, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 2 Department of Medical Oncology, Oncology Institute, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey Corresponding author: N. Dalay E-mail: ndalay@yahoo.com Genet. Mol. Res. 9 (1): 97-106 (2010) Received October 6, 2009 Accepted October 19, 2009 Published January 19, 2010 ABSTRACT. Detection of residual tumor cells in the circulation can provide prognostic as well as therapeutic information and help in identifying patients at high risk for developing metastases. Maspin and mammaglobin are two molecules that are speciically associ- ated with breast cancer. We looked for mammaglobin and maspin transcripts in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer and evaluated their utility as a marker of the response to therapy. Maspin and mammaglobin transcripts were analyzed in 85 breast-cancer pa- tients by nested RT-PCR, prior to and after treatment. Before therapy, 10 patients were found positive for mammaglobin and 20 patients were positive for maspin. In four patients, both transcripts were de-