title: c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in screen-detected breast carcinoma: an immunohistological study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soomro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Shepard
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feldmann
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Sinnett
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shousha
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000737:chemistry; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000737:chemistry; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases