Immunohistochemical detection of Her-2/neu overexpression in breast carcinoma in Nigerians: a 5-year retrospective study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the pattern of Her-2/neu status among breast carcinoma in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical staining for Her-2/neu was performed on 10% formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded primary carcinoma of the breast from 83 patients, between 2003 and 2007 using anti-Her-2/neu rabbit polyclonal antibody (DakoCytomation, CA, USA) and reactivity detected by an avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase method. The clinicopathologic parameters analyzed were patients' age, histological types, and tumor grade. The Her-2/neu Dako scoring system was used.


RESULTS
During the 5-year period, 83 histologically confirmed cases of invasive breast carcinoma were assessed for Her-2/neu status. These included 67 (80.7%) cases of invasive ductal carcinoma, nine cases of invasive lobular carcinoma (10.8%), three cases of medullary carcinoma (3.6%), two cases of papillary carcinoma (2.4%), and a case each of mucinous and clear cell carcinoma (1.2%). Mean age of patients was 48.9 ± 13.6 years with an age range of 25 to 83 years. Only nine (10.8%) cases showed immunopositivity for Her-2/neu. Seven of these were cases of invasive ductal carcinoma, while two were invasive lobular carcinoma. Tumors were predominantly high grade with grade III, II, and I accounting for 42, 28, and 13 cases, respectively. There was no significant correlation between patient age, the various histological types, tumor grade, and Her-2/neu positivity.


CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that Her-2/neu may not be useful in defining the prognosis of breast cancer in this environment. Nevertheless, it highlights the need for routine immunostaining for Her-2/neu before institution of trastuzumab (Herceptin) therapy.
Department of Pathology, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.
E E
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Ugiagbe
A N
AN
Olu-Eddo
D E
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Obaseki
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009549:Nigeria; D011379:Prognosis; D011817:Rabbits; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases