VOLUME

HETEROGENEITY OF UNILATERAL MULTIPLE BREAST CANCER: IMPLICATIONS FOR BIOMARKER TESTING

SEPTEMBER 2014 - VOL.8 | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

OBJECTIVE:

This study was to re-examine the usefulness of biomarker assays in all multiple tumors in the same breast, and to evaluate the genetic heterogeneity of unilateral multiple breast carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

All of the cases met the criteria for synchronous multicentric breast carcinomas. Tumors were either 5 cm apart or within the different breast quadrants, with no identifiable connection between lesions, and were diagnosed at the same time for an individual patient.

RESULTS:

In the present study, 32 tumors from 15 patients with synchronous unilateral breast cancer were immunostained for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER-2, and also underwent microsatellite analysis using 10 polymorphic markers. The ER and PR expression profile was similar in all tumors from the same patient. Discordant HER-2 immunoreactivity was found and confirmed by HER-2 FISH test in one case, and heterogeneity in the microsatellite pattern was observed in 6 patients.

CONCLUSION:

With the routinely-used biomarkers (ER, PR, and HER-2), heterogeneity was minimal, however, with more frequent differences noted at the genetic levels.

Keywords:

breast cancer, unilateral multiple breast cancer, microsatellite, loss of heterozygosity, HER-2

DOI

10.31524/bkkmedj.2014.09.003

MEDIA

Figure 1:

Morphological analysis of unilateral multiple breast cancers. Upper panel from T1 of case 9: Tumor cells (A, hematoxylin and eosin) are positive for estrogen receptor (B) and negative for HER-2 by immunostaining (C), and demonstrate no HER-2 gene amplification (D, FISH, red signals = HER-2 gene and green signals = centromere 17). Lower panel from T2 of the same case: Tumor cells (E, hematoxylin and eosin) are positive for estrogen receptor (F) and HER-2 by immunohistostaining (G), and show HER-2 gene amplification (H, FISH). Both tumors are immunonegative for progesterone receptor and p53 (not shown). (T=tumor)

Table 2.

Immunohistochemical and microsatellite analyses of unilateral multiple breast cancer.

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