HER2 overexpression and correlation with other significant clinicopathologic parameters in Ivorian breast cancer women.

BACKGROUND: The overexpression of HER2 is associated with worse prognosis of breast cancer which responds favourably to anti-HER2 therapy. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of HER2 and its association with clinicopathologic factors in breast cancer in Ivory Coast. METHODS: The study included 608 patients who were histologically diagnosed with invasive primary breast carcinoma. The immunohistochemistry testing for ER, PR, and HER2 was performed on the formalin fixed paraffin-embedded blocks of breast tissue of these patients. The analysis of variance and the Chi-Square Test were used to examine the association of the HER2 status with clinicopathologic prognostic features. RESULTS: The average age of patients was 47 ± 11 years. Among 608 patients, 355 (58.4%) were premenopausal. Invasive ductal carcinoma of no specific type (511 cases, 84.1%) was the most frequent histologic type. Grade II tumors were 59.8%. The positivity of ER, PR, and ER/PR was 334 cases (54.9%), 252 cases (41.4%), and 356 cases (58.5%), respectively. HER2 was overexpressed in 105 cases (17.3%). The overexpression of HER2 was significantly correlated with Nottingham grade (p = 0.007). No association was observed between HER2 expression and age (p = 0.568), menopausal status (p = 0.929), histologic type (p = 0.666), ER (p = 0.137), PR (p = 0.396), and ER/PR (p = 0.134). CONCLUSION: Breast cancer occurs in young women. HER2 status is closely related to Nottingham grade. The immunohistochemical analysis of HER2 has prognostic and therapeutic implications, and thus, contributing to efficient clinical management of patients.

Immunohistochemical determination of estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer: relationship with clinicopathologic factors in 302 patients in Ivory Coast.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous and a hormone-dependent disease. The detection of the estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) is crucial for prognostic evaluation and treatment choice of breast cancer for clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of the hormonal receptors, their distribution, and their correlation with clinicopathologic prognostic parameters for the improvement of the patients' treatment in Ivory Coast. METHODS: The 20-month prospective study included 302 patients who were diagnosed with primary invasive breast carcinomas at the Central Laboratory in Abidjan. The paraffin-embedded blocks of these patients were examined by immunohistochemistry to assess the ER and PgR status. The one-way analysis of variance and Chi-Square Test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The mean age of patients at diagnosis was 48 ± 11 years. The majority of the women were premenopausal in 180 cases (59.9%). The predominant histologic type was invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC NOS) in 247 cases (82%). Tumor grade 2 was more frequent in 166 cases (55%). Among 302 patients, 169 (56%) and 154 (49%) expressed ER and PgR respectively. The ER+PgR+ group with 131 cases (43%) was predominant, followed by 116 cases (38%) of ER-PgR-. The expression of ER and PgR was correlated with the age of the patients (p = 0.026) and the tumor grade (p = 0.0004). However, there was not statistically significant correlation between ER/PgR and the menopausal status of patients (p = 0.149), nor between ER/PgR and the histologic type (p = 0.523). CONCLUSION: The ER+PgR+ and ER-PgR- are the most common subgroups in women with breast cancer in Ivory Coast. The hormonal receptor status is associated with the age and the histologic grade in breast cancer patients. The systematic use of hormonal treatment should be reevaluated. A further study should be done to investigate the reasons of high rate of ER-PgR- in breast cancer patients in Ivory Coast.

Histo-Molecular Profile of Breast Cancer in Young Women in Togo.

Introduction: The frequency of breast cancer in young women, corresponding to women under 40 years of age; varies from 5% to 7% in developed countries. The objective of this study was to contribute to the improvement of the management of breast cancer in young women in Togo, by establishing the molecular classification of these cancers. Methodology: This was a retrospective descriptive and analytical study from January 2010 to December 2020. Results: About 35 cases of breast cancer were identified in women under 40 years of age. The average age was 35.4 ± 3.5 years. The right breast was affected in 18 cases (51.43%). Histologically, 30 cases (85.72%) were invasive carcinoma of no special type (NST), 2 cases (5.71%) were invasive lobular carcinoma and micro-papillary carcinoma respectively, and 1 case (2.86%) was tubular carcinoma. There were 6 cases (17.1%) of grade I, 25 cases (71.4%) of grade II, and 4 cases (11.4%) of grade III. Molecularly, there were 20 cases (57.1%) of triple-negative subtype, 6 cases (17.1%) of Luminal B subtype, 05 cases (14.3%) of HER2-enriched subtype and 4 cases (11.4%) of Luminal A subtype. Conclusion: Breast cancers of young Togolese women express very weakly hormone receptors, with a predominance of a triple negative subtype.

Immunohistochemical Evaluation of Ki-67 and Comparison with Clinicopathologic Factors in Breast Carcinomas

Background: Patients primarily received tamoxifen based on their menopausal status due to the lack of immunohistochemistry. A recent study has shown that hormonal receptors were not correlated with menopausal status, and thus, indicating that they present limited therapeutic and prognostic significance in breast cancer management. This study aimed to evaluate Ki-67 value and analyze its association with clinicopathologic parameters in breast cancer patients. Methods: The formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast tissue blocks of 125 patients with primary breast carcinomas were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis using Ventana Benchmark® GX automated immunostainer. Analysis of variance and Chi-2 test were used to examine the relationship between Ki-67 and clinicopathologic variables. Results: The mean age of 125 patients included in the study was 47.7 years. The average score of Ki-67 was 56.0%. 84.8% of patients showed Ki-67 ≥ 14%. Mean scores of Ki-67 were correlated with grade (p = 0.006), PR (p = 0.026), histological type, ER, combined ER/RP, and molecular subtype (p < 0.001). Ki-67 was independent of HER2 (p = 0.402) and menopausal status (p = 0.471). The frequency of Ki-67 according to St Gallen 2011 was associated with histological type (p = 0.005), grade (p = 0.005), ER (p < 0.001), combined ER/PR (p = 0.004), and molecular subtype (p = 0.004). There was no significant relationship between the distribution of Ki-67 and the age of the patients (p = 0.859), menopausal status (p = 0.979), PR (p = 0.149), and HER2 (p = 0.597). Conclusion: Ki-67 is useful for treatment decisions in primary breast cancer patients. The high value of Ki-67 was associated with adverse clinicopathologic factors. The increased Ki-67 value should be carefully investigated in triple negative patients.

Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes Defined by ER/PR and HER2 Status: Association with Clinicopathologic Parameters in Ivorian Patients.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that represents a major public health problem. The immunohistochemical determination of breast cancer subtypes with regard to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) status can contribute to improved selection of therapy and patientcare. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of the molecular breast cancer subtypes and to assess their associations with classical clinicopathologic parameters for better therapeutic decisions in women with breast cancer in the Ivory Coast. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin- fixed and paraffin-embedded blocks of patients diagnosed with primary breast carcinoma were subjected to immunohistochemical assay for the assessment of ER/RP and HER2 expression. The one-way analysis of variance evaluated the difference between breast cancer subtypes and mean age of patients. The Chi-square Test was used to compare standard clinicopathologic prognostic parameters with tumor subtypes. RESULTS: Among 302 patients, 57% were premenopausal and 43% were postmenopausal. The invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC NOS) (82.8%) was the most frequent histological type, and the tumor grade 2 (56%) was predominant followed by grade 3 (20.9%). The proportion of positivity of ER, PR, and HER2 was 56%, 49%, and 15.6%, respectively. Half of patients of this study (51.6%) had luminal A breast tumor type followed by TN (32.1%). Other subtypes were luminal B (10.1% ) and non-luminal HER2+ (6.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study are in line with the literature and should assist in management of breast cancer in our country.