Biological Features of Inflammatory Breast Cancer in North Africa: Burden and Research Priorities

Abstract

We aimed to review all published literature reporting biological data about inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) in populations from North Africa. Methods: We reviewed all studies that evaluated biological features of IBC in six North African countries between 1990 and 2017. Among 118 screened studies, 13 were included, none about Mauritania/Libya. Results: Across the studies, hormonal receptors were positive in 46–69% of cases, reaching 83% in Algeria. HER2 was overexpressed in 25–39% of cases. Recombinant human C protein expression was the highest in Egyptian patients (87%) compared with other North African populations. Using mRNA expression recombinant human C protein was expressed in 83% of Tunisian patients. WISP3 gene expression showed positive immunohistochemistry staining in 17% and mRNA expression in 26.8% of IBC. Conclusion: Biological aspects of IBC across North Africa show important similarities and differences.