A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HORMONE RECEPTOR EXPRESSION IN BREAST CARCINOMA PATIENTS

Dr. Supriya and Dr. Vijay Verma*

ABSTRACT

Background: Cancer of breast is the most common cancer affecting women worldwide, and is the second most common cause of cancer death next to lung cancer. Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. It is responsible for more than 500,000 deaths annually. In urban Indian population breast carcinoma is the most common cancer among women. The incidence of carcinoma breast patients has increased over a period of few years, reason being either increased awareness or early diagnosis. Hormone receptor status of a given breast cancer (ER, PR) provides information about the particular genetic type of cells which have become malignant and an indication of how the breast carcinoma will likely respond to chemotherapy and endocrine therapy (hormone related therapy) if required. Her2neu is a tumour biomarker associated with disease progression and metastatic potential. Ki67 is a proliferation marker which shows how fast the tumour is growing, whether or not there is evidence of cell damage and death. The tumors that are estrogen receptor (ER) positive and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive have lower risks of mortality after their diagnosis compared to women with ER and/or PR-negative disease. Material and methods: Hormone receptor expression (ER, PR, HER2NEU and KI67) was studied in fifty patients of carcinoma breast, and also compared with similar studies in various parts of the world. Results: The result of our study reveals that the carcinoma breast patients of this region have more ER, PR and HER2NEU negativity which is different from that of other parts of the world. Also, KI positivity below 10% is predominant in our study which correlates with the worse prognosis of this disease. Conclusion: Carcinoma breast patients of this part of the subhimalayan region vary in hormone receptor expression, tumour subtype and age of diagnosis from that of other parts of the world.

Keywords: triple negative breast cancer, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2NEU receptor.