STUDY OF HORMONE RECEPTOR STATUS IN CARCINOMA BREAST

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. The mortality due to this disease is decreasing in western countries, because of early detection and effective systemic adjuvant therapy. In India incidence is still increasing, therefore it is important to identify high-risk patient groups for whom adjuvant therapy is beneficial. This study was carried out at our centre to find hormone receptor status of patients with carcinoma breast, as it could have significant implications on the management and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS This descriptive study was conducted during a period of two years from 1st May 2012 to 30th April 2014 at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, whereby 50 consecutive patients of diagnosed carcinoma of breast were admitted in the Department of General Surgery. A detailed clinical history was taken and thorough clinical examination was done and was subjected to surgery (Modified Radical Mastectomy) after routine investigations. The specimen sent for histopathology examination along with ER/PR/HER-2 receptor analysis by immunohistochemistry. The collected data was tabulated and analysed by using simple statistical methods. RESULTS In the present study, all 50 patients were female and the mean age of patients was 49.88, ranging from 21 to 78 years. 48% were pre-menopausal and 54% were post-menopausal. Right sided carcinoma breast was seen in 62% patients with upper outer quadrant lesions in 54% patients. Multicentric carcinoma was found in 6% patients. 40% patients were in stage 2B, 22% in stage 2a, 28% in stage 3a, 8% in stage 3b and 2% in stage 3c according to TNM staging. ER receptor was positive in 62% patients, PR receptor was positive in 54% of patients. HER-2 receptor was positive in 48% patients. Triple negative disease in 26% of patients. Infiltrating ductal carcinoma was found in 76% patients and 18% had intraductal carcinoma. We found 3 patients with lobular carcinoma. CONCLUSION In the present study, 90% patients were there in stage IIA to IIIA, i.e. presenting in advanced stage of the disease with 75% patients having diagnosis of infiltrating ductal carcinoma and 25% patients had triple negative disease indicating bad prognosis. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with a wide spectrum of clinical, pathological and molecular features and application of targeted therapy has played an important role in breast cancer survival rate during the past two decades, so we conclude the assessment of ER/PR/HER-2 receptor is desirable in management of carcinoma breast patients in India.