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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
Optimization of a Multiplex RNA-based Expression Assay Using Breast Cancer Archival Material
Published on: August 1, 2018
[Immunophenotype and evolution of breast carcinomas: a comparison between very young and postmenopausal women]
Mara Costa Dutra1, Marina Alvarenga Rezende, Victor Piana de Andrade
1Programa de Pós-graduação em Patologia Mamária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.
Purpose:
The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical, pathological and molecular characteristics in very young women and postmenopausal women with breast cancer.
Methods:
We selected 106 cases of breast cancer of very young women (<35 years) and 130 cases of postmenopausal women. We evaluated clinical characteristics of patients (age at diagnosis, ethnic group, family history of breast cancer, staging, presence of distant metastases, overall and disease-free survival), pathological characteristics of tumors (tumor size, histological type and grade, axillary lymph nodes status) and expression of molecular markers (hormone receptors, HER2, p53, p63, cytokeratins 5 and 14, and EGFR), using immunohistochemistry and tissue microarray.
Results:
When comparing clinicopathologic variables between the age groups, younger women demonstrated greater frequency of nulliparity (p=0.03), larger tumors (p<0.000), higher stage disease (p=0.01), lymph node positivity (p=0.001), and higher grade tumors (p=0.004). Most of the young patients received chemotherapy (90.8%) and radiotherapy (85.2%) and less tamoxifen therapy (31.5%) comparing with postmenopausal women. Lower estrogen receptor positivity 49.1% (p=0.01) and higher HER2 overexpression 28.7% (p=0.03) were observed in young women. In 32 young patients (29.6%) and in 20% of the posmenopausal women, the breast carcinomas were of the triple-negative phenotype (p=0.034). In 16 young women (50%) and in 10 postmenopausal women (7.7%), the tumors expressed positivity for cytokeratin 5 and/or 14, basal phenotype (p=0.064). Systemic metastases were detected in 55.3% of the young women and in 39.2% of the postmenopausal women. Breast cancer overall survival and disease-free survival in five years were, respectively, 63 and 39% for young women and 75 and 67% for postmenopausal women.
Conclusions:
Breast cancer arising in very young women showed negative clinicobiological characteristics and more aggressive tumors.
