Significance of Immunohistochemical Biomarker in Breast Carcinoma from a Single Tertiary Care Hospital in India

Abstract

Background: Breast carcinoma is the most common malignancy in female worldwide, leading cause of death in women. Immunohistochemistry plays a very important role in the prognostication and treatment determination of breast carcinoma patients. Objective: The objective of the study was to analyze the immunohistochemical markers in invasive carcinoma of breast and to correlate the expression of hormonal receptors with age of the patient, tumor size, histological grade, and lymph node metastasis. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 88 infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma sample in a tertiary care hospital of Southern Assam for a period of 2 year (January2018-December 2019). Data including age, tumor size, and histologic grade and lymph node status retrieved from pathology department. Chi-square was used to determine the statistical significance between estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) status human epidermal receptor growth factor 2 (HER2/neu) status along with their correlation with various clinicopathological parameters with respect to infiltrating ductal breast carcinoma. Result: The mean age of the patients was 56.6 years. We observed correlation between ER and PR expression with age, tumor size, and tumor grade. There was correlation between HER2/neu expression and age only. None of the markers showed correlation with lymph node involvement (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings showed the importance of biomarkers (ER, PR, and HER2/neu) expression as prognostic factors for therapeutic decision.