title: Ki67 and proliferation in breast cancer.
abstract: New approaches to the prognostic assessment of breast cancer have come from molecular profiling studies. A major feature of this work has been to emphasise the importance of cancer cell proliferation as a key discriminative indicator of recurrence risk for oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer in particular. Mitotic count scoring, as a component of histopathological grade, has long formed part of a routine evaluation of breast cancer biology. However, there is an increasingly compelling case to include a specific proliferation score in breast cancer pathology reports based on expression of the cell cycle regulated protein Ki67. Immunohistochemical staining for Ki67 is a widely available and economical test with good tolerance of pre-analytical variations and staining conditions. However, there is currently no evidence based protocol established to derive a reliable and informative Ki67 score for routine clinical use. In this circumstance, pathologists must establish a standardised framework for scoring Ki67 and communicating results to a multidisciplinary team.
authors: Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia. nirmala.pathmanathan@bci.org.au
authors: Nirmala
authors: N
authors: Pathmanathan
authors: Rosemary L
authors: RL
authors: Balleine
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen
keywords: Breast Cancer; Breast Pathology; KI 67