title: Comparison of HER-2/neu, ER and PCNA expression in premenopausal and postmenopausal patients with breast carcinoma.
abstract: We attempted to compare the pattern of HER-2/neu, ER and PCNA in premenopausal and postmenopausal patients with breast carcinoma to identify potential biological differences. Five hundred and forty-eight samples from 318 premenopausal and 230 postmenopausal women with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast were evaluated for HER-2/neu, ER and PCNA expression by immunohistochemistry. HER-2/neu expression showed 27.4% positivity in premenopausal and 24.8% in postmenopausal women; there was no significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). In contrast, HER-2/neu expression was found to be significantly associated with ER negativity in the two groups (p<0.05 in premenopausal, p<0.001 in postmenopausal patients). However, it was significantly associated with PCNA expression only in the postmenopausal group (p<0.001). 54.4% showed premenopausal tumor cell ER positivity, whereas 64.3% of the postmenopausal group showed positivity. ER expression showed a significant correlation with patient menopausal status (p<0.05). The prevalence of PCNA positivity in the tumor cell components is slightly higher in postmenopausal compared to premenopausal women (p>0.20). The current study is consistent with reports from other groups regarding the correlation of HER-2/neu with adverse pathologic features and with expression of other markers in carcinoma. We also observed there was no trend toward increased HER-2/neu expression in either premenopausal or postmenopausal patients, i.e. there was similar HER-2/neu expression in the two groups. This suggests that HER-2/neu status could be used to determine assignment to specific intensive adjuvant therapy and evaluation of biological behavior in both pre- and postmenopausal patients with breast carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Changhai Hospital, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China. ZHENGW@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Weiqiang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Fengfang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Dalie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017698:Postmenopause; D017697:Premenopause; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen