Immunohistochemical Biomarkers in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ

Abstract

Introduction: Breast ductal carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) can be defined as a malignant epithelial proliferation with growth limited by the basal membrane of the ductal epithelium, with no evidence of stromal invasion. There has been a trend of trying to subcategorize DCIS based on cell proliferation assays (Ki67) and the expression of hormone receptors and the human epidermal growth receptor (HER-2) as detected by immunohistochemistry, similar to invasive breast carcinomas (IBC). The aims were to evaluate the expression of breast cancer marker proteins in DCIS by immunohistochemistry to better categorize it. Methods: 46 biopsies from women with DCIS and IBC Luminal A-like were evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining of proteins already known to be biomarkers in IBC. For controls, normal breast tissue from mammoplasty (n = 3) was used. Results: Our results showed an increase of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression relative to that in normal tissue samples (p