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C‐erbB‐2 oncoprotein in screen‐detected breast carcinoma: An immunohistological study
Author(s) -
Soomro Salma,
Taylor P.,
Shepard H. M.,
Feldmann M.,
Sinnett H. D.,
Shousha S.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910550112
Subject(s) - immunoperoxidase , immunostaining , pathology , medicine , immunohistochemistry , carcinoma , breast carcinoma , mammary gland , antibody , breast cancer , cancer , monoclonal antibody , immunology
This study was aimed at comparing screen‐detected and symptomatic breast carcinomas with regard to the prevalence of positive immunostaining for c‐erb‐B‐2 oncoprotein. Paraffin sections of 81 breast carcinomas detected through the National Screening Programme were examined for the over‐expression of c‐erbB‐2 oncoprotein using the avidin‐biotin immunoperoxidase technique and 2 different specific antibodies: 21N and 4D5. Twenty‐one other carcinomas detected in symptomatic patients were similarly examined for comparison. The screen‐detected lesions were of 2 types: palpable and impalpable which required needle localization prior to surgical removal. Of the 81 screen‐detected tumours, only 8 were c‐erbB‐2 positive, compared with 5 out of 21 non‐screen‐detected tumours. When only invasive carcinomas were considered, 5 out of 63 screen‐detected cases were positive, compared with 5 out of 15 symptomatic cases. Four out of the 5 screen‐detected positive invasive carcinomas were clinically palpable. Our results show an obvious trend towards a lower prevalence of c‐erbB‐2 oncoprotein over‐expression in screen‐detected carcinomas. As this over‐expression is thought to be associated with increased tumour aggressiveness, the findings suggest a low prevalence of aggressive tumours in screen‐detected lesions, particularly impalpable invasive carcinomas, identified so far. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.