Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Nov 24, 2020; 11(11): 935-944
Published online Nov 24, 2020. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i11.935
Assessment of breast cancer immunohistochemistry and tumor characteristics in Nigeria
Usman Malami Aliyu, Abdulrahaman Auwal Musa
Usman Malami Aliyu, Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University/Teaching Hospital, Sokoto 840212, Nigeria
Abdulrahaman Auwal Musa, Department of Histopathology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto 840221, Nigeria
Author contributions: Aliyu UM drafted the methodology and discussion; Musa AA assisted with data analysis and interpretation of the result; Aliyu UM and Musa AA performed the writing and editing for the original manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee. The research topic is in line with the rule and regulation of the institution.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: There are no additional data available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Usman Malami Aliyu, MBBS, Senior Lecturer, Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University/Teaching Hospital, No. 1 Garba Nadama Road, Gawon Nama Area, Sokoto 840212, Nigeria. aamusa08033@gmail.com
Received: April 23, 2020
Peer-review started: April 23, 2020
First decision: June 15, 2020
Revised: September 16, 2020
Accepted: October 5, 2020
Article in press: October 5, 2020
Published online: November 24, 2020
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Female breast cancer is the leading type of cancer worldwide with an incidence of approximately 2.1 million in 2018. Hormone receptor status plays a vital role in its management.

AIM

To determine the molecular expression pattern of biomarkers in breast cancer and their correlation with tumor variables.

METHODS

This prospective study was designed to analyze expression patterns of estrogen receptor(ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor(HER2/neu) in breast cancer patients. The dataset has been taken from the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto, Nigeria from 1 January 2015 to 2 December 2019. The dataset had 259 records and 7 attributes. SPSS version 23.0 for statistical analysis was used. The data analyzed demographic and other clinicopathological characteristics as categorical variables. The mean and standard deviation were determined for the quantitative variable.

RESULTS

A total of 259 breast cancer cases were included in the study. The mean age was 48.3 ± 11.0, with an age range of 26-80 years and a median age of 46 years. The morphological categories were invasive ductal carcinoma 258 (99.6%) and invasive lobular carcinoma 1 (0.4%). ER, positivity increased in 73 patients (50%) under the age of 50 years, as well as PR positivity increased in 34 patients (23.6%) under the age of 50 years. HER/2neupositivity decreased in 8 patients (5.6%) under the age of 50 years. Hormonal receptors were statistically significant with clinicopathological characteristics (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that ER, PR and HER2/neuexpression had a strong correlation with age, tumor grade, tumor size and lymph node status. Hence, hormone receptor assessment is highly recommended because of its significance in clinical management and prognostication.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Hormonal receptors, Sokoto state, Tertiary Health Institution, Northwestern, Nigeria

Core Tip: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in Nigeria as it is in the whole world. Assessment of immunohistochemical profile and its tumor characteristic is paramount to the management of this disease entity. The paucity of literature on breast cancer biomarkers in sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Nigeria) has contributed to the increase in morbidity and mortality recorded in the region.