title: Immunocytochemical evaluation of HER-2/neu on fine-needle aspirates from primary breast carcinomas.
abstract: Detection of HER-2/neu alterations is increasingly used in breast cancer patients for therapeutic purposes. This study examines the reliability of HER-2/neu immunocytochemical assessment on 66 cytospin smears obtained by fine-needle aspiration biopsy from breast cancer patients. Results were compared with those obtained by both fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on fine-needle aspirate (FNA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on matched histologic section. Concordance between immunocytochemistry (ICC) and FISH was 78% and between ICC and IHC was 84%. Discordance mainly concerned seven unamplified cases that resulted positive by ICC and four cases scored negative by IHC but positive by ICC. Simultaneous assessment of HER-2/neu by ICC, IHC, and FISH was available in 24 cases; the concordance was 75%. In this study, the false positivity of immunocytochemical technique represents the major criticism. In our experience, FISH remains the most objective and powerful technique for HER-2/neu assessment on breast cancer FNAs.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Oncologia Medica, Ospedale di Parma, Parma, Italy. rnizzoli@ao.pr.it
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nizzoli
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bozzetti
authors.forename: Pellegrino
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Crafa
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naldi
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guazzi
authors.forename: Beatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Di Blasio
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Camisa
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cascinu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases