Breast Carcinoma; Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 (HER-2) and Grading Correlation

Document Type : Short Communication

Authors

1 Department of Surgery, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of General, Visceral, and Transplantation Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

3 Department of Surgery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Students' Research Committee, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran

5 Young Researchers and Elite Club, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran

6 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

7 National Cell Bank of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Overexpression of Human Epidermal Growth factor Receptor-2 (HER-2) is one of the most important prognostic and predictive factors of breast cancer, observed in 25% - 30% of breast carcinoma patients leading to poor prognosis and feasible anti HER-2 antibody drugs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the HER-2 frequency in target population and its correlation with histologic grade as well as tumor pathology, estrogen receptor (ER) and P53 in our patients.
Methods: A total of 300 cases (all female) aged 24- 80 year, were randomly selected from patients who were admitted in two of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences affiliated centers (Emam Khomeini Cancer Institute and Shariati hospital) over a 2-year period (2013-2014). Assessment of tumors for HER-2, P53, ER, pathological type and histologic grade was performed. HER-2 over expression defined as three plus (+++) in immunohistochemistry (IHC).
Results: The mean age was 49.6±11 years. HER-2 over expression was seen in 34% of the patients. Significant correlations were found between HER-2+, P53+ and high histologic grade and ER (P<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between HER-2 and pathologic type of tumors in our study.
Conclusion: Co-expression of several poor prognostic biomarkers in breast cancer (HER-2 +, P53 +, ER- , high grade) may predict more aggressive phenotype, worse disease and lower overall survival in these patients.

Keywords


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