•  
  •  
 

Corresponding Author

Shaimaa Yussif

Subject Area

Pathology

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Introduction

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a wide range of clinical, histological, and molecular characteristics. Various diagnostic methods have been used to ascertain prognosis by evaluating various clinicopathological data, such as tumor size, nodal stage, hormone receptor status, and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) status, metastasis, tumor grade and lymphovascular emboli. Accurate substratification of prognostic groups with varying clinical outcomes is needed. This is particularly valid for cases of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. The purpose of this study is to examine the immunohistochemical expression of a set of markers in hormone positive breast carcinoma cases and test their correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and their prognostic impact. This is a trial to validate these markers as prognostic models to identify subgroups with worse prognosis that need further treatment modalities.

Material and methods

This retrospective study was conducted on 107 cases of luminal invasive breast cancer obtained from the Pathology Laboratory at Mansoura Oncology Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University. Tissue microarray blocks were prepared from archived paraffin blocks between January 2010 and January 2011. Immunohistochemistry for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2 neu, Ki67, B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2), androgen receptor (AR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor A (PDGFRA), cyclin D1, P53, and B catenin were done. A correlation was done with clinicopathological data and patient survival.

Results

Bcl2, cyclin D1, P53, B catenin (aberrant), PDGFRA, and androgen receptor proteins were found to be positively expressed in 53, 59, 35.5, 48, 49.5, and 79% of cases, respectively. Cyclin D1, AR, and Bcl2 expression were associated with lower grade, lower stage, improved overall survival, and disease-free survival. P53 positivity was significantly associated with higher tumor grades (II–III) and improved overall survival. B catenin aberrant expression and PDGFRA positivity showed nonsignificant association with grade 2, small tumor size, absence of metastasis and recurrence, good overall survival, and disease-free survival.

Conclusion

Cyclin D1, Bcl2, and AR are good prognostic markers correlated with prolonged overall survival and disease-free survival. P53 is also positively correlated with improved OS and DFS. B catenin and PDGFRA need to be investigated on a wider scale. These markers may be considered therapeutic targets.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Download

Share

COinS