Breast Pathology
Swaminathan Kalyanasundaram; Shantaraman Kalyanaraman; Hidhaya Kaleelullah Fathima; Vidhya Mohan; Kavitha Selvaraj
Abstract
Background & Objective: Triple-Negative Breast Carcinoma (TNBC) is characterized by an absence of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 neu expression, with distinct molecular, histological and clinical features, aggressive clinical course and a poor prognosis. The objective was to evaluate ...
Read More
Background & Objective: Triple-Negative Breast Carcinoma (TNBC) is characterized by an absence of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 neu expression, with distinct molecular, histological and clinical features, aggressive clinical course and a poor prognosis. The objective was to evaluate the expression of Cytokeratin5/6 (CK 5/6), Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 1 (EGFR 1), E-cadherin and Androgen receptor in tissue sections of TNBC.Methods: All modified radical mastectomy samples received negative for the three markers were subjected to further studies with CK5/6, EGFR 1, E- cadherin and Androgen receptor staining. The clinical and pathological data were tabulated and statistically analysed using the Chi-square test, and cross-tabulation was done to assess the correlation between these markers.Results: Of 94 samples classified as TNBC, 31 (33%) were positive for CK 5/6, 47 (50%) for EGFR, 32 (34%) for E Cadherin and Androgen receptor, respectively. We had one positive patient for all four markers, 13 patients were negative for all four. Thirty-five cases were positive for only one marker, 32 were positive for two markers, and 13 were positive for three markers. Analysis revealed certain interesting patterns, namely - E cadherin was the most common isolated marker expressed in our cohort of TNBC with 15 of 35 positives.Conclusion: This study highlights the presence of a unique subtype of TNBC, which are negative for all the four markers studied here, with unique histomorphology of absent tumour necrosis and stromal lymphocytic infiltration being unique.
Breast Pathology
Azar Naimi; Maryam Sultan; Elham Amjadi; Parvin Goli; Amirhosein Kefayat
Abstract
Background & Objective: Our knowledge about correlation of androgen receptor expression and clinicopathological properties of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients is inadequate, particularly in the Iranian population. The main aim of the present study was to assess the AR expression in TNBC ...
Read More
Background & Objective: Our knowledge about correlation of androgen receptor expression and clinicopathological properties of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients is inadequate, particularly in the Iranian population. The main aim of the present study was to assess the AR expression in TNBC Iranian patients and evaluate its correlation with their clinicopathological parameters. Methods: Herein, 76 TNBC patients were evaluated for the AR expression by immunohistochemistry. The slides' staining intensity was investigated according to the average degree of nuclear staining and sub-classified into negative (0), weak (1), moderate (2), or strong (3). Subsequently, the positive cells percentage for each slide was assessed and sub-classified into <25% (1), 25-50% (2), 50-75% (3), and >75% (4). The aggregation of these two scores was used as the final score ranging from 0 to 7. While 4-7 scores were selected as positive, the others were included in the AR-negative expression group. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the AR expression correlation with the clinicopathological parameters. Result : Positive immunoreactivity for AR was observed in 8 out of 76 (11%) specimens. No-correlation (P>0.05) was observed between the AR expression and grade, stage, lymph node status, and Ki-67 level. The AR-positive patients exhibited older age at the time of diagnosis (P=0.0339) and larger tumor size (P=0.0224) in comparison with the AR-negative patients. Low percentage of TNBC patients expressed AR and no significant correlation was observed between its expression and most of the clinicopathological parameters. Conclusion : AR may not be a suitable biomarker and treatment target for the Iranian patients with TNBC.
Nasrin Shayanfar; Behrang Kazeminejad
Volume 3, Issue 1 , January 2008, , Pages 30-34
Abstract
Background and Objective: Determination of hormone receptor status in the management of breast cancer is well-established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of androgen receptor (AR) expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, ...
Read More
Background and Objective: Determination of hormone receptor status in the management of breast cancer is well-established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of androgen receptor (AR) expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, 55 cases of invasive ductal breast carcinoma were examined using a monoclonal antibody against AR on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archival material. The results were correlated with the results of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PR) previously done immunohistochemically on the specimens. Results: It was found out that AR was positive in 24 cases (43.6%). In addition, AR was positive in 33% (3) of grade 1, 45% (16) of grade 2, and 38% (15) of grade 3 tumors. Previously, ER and PR were done on 34 cases including 5 grade 1, 18 grade 2, and 11 grade 3 carcinomas. Among the grade 1 cases, 2 out of them were AR positive which were also ER and PR positive but 2 (11%) out of grade 2 and 3 (27%) out of grade 3 tumors were AR positive and ER negative. Also, 5 (28%) out of grade 2 and 3 (27%) out of grade 3 tumors were AR positive and PR negative. In grade 2 tumors, correlation between ER and PR negativity with AR positivity was significant. Conclusion: AR expression is common in invasive breast carcinomas. Some high grade carcinomas are ER and PR negative and AR positive. We suggest that immunohistochemical evaluation of AR may help in providing more information about steroid receptors in breast carcinomas
Peyman Mohammadi Torbati; Pejman Fard Esfehani
Volume 1, Issue 4 , September 2006, , Pages 149-154
Abstract
Background and Objective: Since the advent of mammography screening, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast has been diagnosed increasingly. In contrast to the situation in invasive breast carcinoma, there are only a few reports on androgen receptor (AR) status in DCIS and few reports on estrogen ...
Read More
Background and Objective: Since the advent of mammography screening, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast has been diagnosed increasingly. In contrast to the situation in invasive breast carcinoma, there are only a few reports on androgen receptor (AR) status in DCIS and few reports on estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors. Materials and Methods: AR expression was examined in 51 cases of DCIS of the breast and correlated to the degree of differentiation and ER/PR expression status in accordance to immunohistochemical results. Results: AR immunoreactivity was noted in 17 of the cases, whereas the other 34 cases were negative. There was also no significant association between AR expression and the degree of differentiation of DCIS; two of the 11 well-differentiated DCIS cases, nine of the 17 intermediately differentiated cases, and six of the 23 poorly differentiated cases were AR positive (p = 0.091). However, a strong association was shown between the expression of ER (p<0.001) and PR (p = 0.002) and the degree of differentiation of DCIS. In addition, no significant association was found between the expression of AR and the expression of ER (p = 0.37) or PR (p = 0.63) in DCIS of the breast. Conclusion: Clinically significant number of cases of DCIS of the breast expresses AR, which may affect accurate typing of DCIS. Moreover, the expression of AR (but not ER or PR) in DCIS does not appear to be associated with the degree of differentiation.