Immunohistochemical Expression of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and c-Kit in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

To determine the frequency of immunohistochemical expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and c-KITin triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Descriptive, cross-sectional study.

Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi, from January to December 2014.

Fifty cases of triple negative breast cancer diagnosed on immunohistochemistry were included in the study. Patients'gender and age were noted. Immunohistochemistry for EGFR and c-KITwere applied and the results were recorded. The data were analyzed by using computer software programme SPSS version 19. Descriptive statistics, frequencies and percentages were calculated.

Out of 50 patients of TNBC, all patients were females. The ages of the patients ranged between 30 and 80 years with an average age of 48.9 years and standard deviation of ±10.0. Out of 50 cases, 29 cases (58%) were positive for EGFR while 15 cases (30%) were positive for c-KIT. Thirteen cases (26%) were positive for both EGFR and c-KIT. Nineteen cases (38%) were negative for both EGFR and c-KIT.

EGFR expression was observed in 58% and c-KITexpression was seen in 30% of the cases. The results of EGFR expression are almost similar while those of c-KIT are different from international studies which suggest immunohistochemical differences between the studied populations.