title: Inflammatory breast cancers in Tunisia and France show similar immunophenotypes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Inflammatory breast cancers (IBC) have specific immunophenotypic profiles as compared to non-inflammatory (non-IBC): combined differential expression of estrogen receptor, Ki67, E-cadherin, MUC1, and ERBB2 can be used as an IBC signature. It is thought that IBC occurs with a high frequency in Tunisia. The aim of this study is to evaluate this signature on a Tunisian series.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of five proteins (E-cadherin, ERBB2, estrogen receptor, Ki67, MUC1) was studied by immunohistochemistry on a consecutive series of 91 cases of IBC (T4D) treated at Tunisian Salah Azaiz Institute (ISA) and deposited in a tissue microarray (TMA). Results were compared to the same study on a series of 85 cases treated in France.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ISA cases were characterized by a significantly younger age of patients (median: 42 years old in ISA for 53.5 in IPC, p=0.00042) and a higher frequency of invasive micropapillary pattern. None of the five parameters was expressed differentially in the two series. In non-metastatic patients, high level of proliferation (Ki67) and overexpression of ERBB2 were associated with poor outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The IBC from Tunisia were not different from those observed in France on the basis of IHC profiles. However, the younger age of the patients suggest a specific epidemiological context that should be investigated.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Cancérologie de Marseille, Département d'Oncologie Moléculaire, Institut Paoli-Calmettes et UMR599 Inserm, IFR137 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Charafe-Jauffret
authors.forename: Karima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mrad
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Intidhar Labidi
authors.forename: Azza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben Hamida
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ben Romdhane
authors.forename: Mansour
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ben Abdallah
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ginestier
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Esterni
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Birnbaum
authors.forename: Farhat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ben Ayed
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xerri
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viens
authors.forename: Amel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mezlini
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacquemier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D018396:Mucin-1; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; C060192:MUC1 protein, human; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human