Correlation of B-cell lymphoma 2 immunoexpression in invasive carcinoma of breast, no special type with hormone receptor status, proliferation index, and molecular subtypes.

Abstract

B-cell lymphoma 2 is involved in various cancers including breast carcinoma. Its expression in breast cancer has been associated with good prognostic factors such as hormone receptor expression, low Ki-67, low grade, and earlier stage. It is also considered to be an independent prognostic factor for luminal and triple-negative tumors. We aimed to determine the expression of B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) in different molecular subtypes of invasive ductal carcinoma of breast and its association with prognostic indicators. Fifty samples of invasive carcinoma of breast, no special type (NST), were categorized into molecular subtypes according to immunohistochemical expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2), and Ki-67 and then evaluated for BCL2 expression. The expression of BCL2 was correlated with ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 and compared between luminal and nonluminal subtypes. The BCL2 expression was seen in 68% of the cases with a significant association with ER, PR, and luminal subtypes. No significant association of BCL2 expression was seen with grade, HER2 and Ki-67 status of the tumor, or age group of the patients. BCL2 expression is significantly associated with ER, PR, and luminal subtypes in breast cancer. BCL2 is a marker of good prognosis in invasive carcinoma of breast, NST.