Cent Eur J Public Health 2016, 24(3):171-175

Hormonal Receptor, Human Epidermal Growth Factor and Its Association with Breast Cancer Tumor Characteristics in Albania

Edlira Pajenga1, Tefta Rexha2, Silva Çeliku3, Ana Ugrinska4, Gazmend Bejtja5
1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Elbasan, Elbasan, Albania
2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania
3 Division of Gynaecology, Mother Tereza Oncology Hospital, Tirana, Albania
4 Institute of Pathophysiology and Nuclear Medicine, Acad Isak S. Tadzer Faculty of Medicine, UKIM, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
5 Division of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Tirana, Albania

Aim: This retrospective study was designed to analyze expression patterns of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2/neu in Albanian patients with breast carcinoma to identify their relationships with tumor size, histological grade (HG), lymph node metastasis and relapse.

Methods: Patients with either biopsy or metastatic relapse were identified. Demographics, tumor characteristics, ER, PR, and HER2/neu status were retrospectively obtained from the medical records of patients treated with breast cancer during 2006-2011. Hormonal receptors and HER2/neu were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Association of ER, PR and HER2/neu with clinicopathological and molecular characteristics were studied using Fisher's test. P value ≤0.05 was considered significant.

Results: There were 110 patients included in the study. Mean patient age was 51.08±10.75 years. The overall immunoexpression of ER, PR and HER2/neu were found positive in 76 (69%), 73 (67%), and 16 (41%) patients, respectively. ER- was associated with higher histological grade (24% vs. 9.2%) and PR+ with tumor size (T2, 78.3 vs. 64.3) (p=0.02 and 0.05, respectively). ER and PR expression were significantly decreased in HER2/neu positive cases while HER2/neu levels correlated with tumor size (p=0.03) and nodal metastasis (p=0.03). No association was detected between ER, PR, HER2/neu and relapse.

Conclusion: A combination of ER, PR and HER2/neu and prognostic factors could be of clinical value by defining subgroups in Albanian breast cancer patients that might benefit from more aggressive treatment.

Keywords: breast cancer, ER, PR, HER2/neu, relapse

Received: September 1, 2014; Revised: March 7, 2016; Accepted: March 7, 2016; Published: September 1, 2016  Show citation

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Pajenga E, Rexha T, Çeliku S, Ugrinska A, Bejtja G. Hormonal Receptor, Human Epidermal Growth Factor and Its Association with Breast Cancer Tumor Characteristics in Albania. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2016;24(3):171-175. PubMed PMID: 27760283.
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