Prognostic and predictive factors of invasive ductal breast carcinomas

Purpose: To investigate the significance of certain immunohistochemical markers, namely estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PgR), c-erbB-2 oncogene, p53 tumor suppressor gene and E-cadherin adhesion molecule, in invasive ductal breast carcinomas. Methods: A series of 102 primary breast carcinomas of the ductal type and a standard immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the aforementioned biological markers. The findings were related to various clinical and pathological tumor characteristics, including lymph node metastases. Results: ER and E-cadherin were expressed more commonly in tumors of low histological grade and small number (<= 3) of metastatic lymph nodes, whereas c-erbB-2 and the p53 gene were usually expressed in breast tumors of high histological grade and increased number (>3) of metastatic lymph nodes. PgR, on the other hand, was detected frequently in patients with early menarche and metastases in <3 lymph nodes, but this tendency was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The use of these biomarkers, preferably in combination, may provide additional prognostic and therapeutic information which may he proved useful in planning breast cancer treatment.