The clinical pattern of HER - 2/neu oncogene overexpressing breast cancer in Pakistani patients at initial presentation: An Analysis of HER - 2/neu positive versus negative disease - A preliminary report

Background: HER 2/new oncogene is an important prognostic marker in Breast Cancer and has implications in therapy planning. Objective: To describe the clinical features of HER 2/new positive and negative Breast Cancer in the Pakistani patient population and note clinical differences between the two groups if any. Design: A retrospective analysis of Breast Cancer cases at the Aga Khan University, Hospital. Method: Immunochemical stainning on formation fixed paraffin embedded tissue using oxidase antiperoxidase method. A total of 152 Breast cancer tissue samples were tested for HER-2/neu gene presence. Of these 43 (39%) samples tested positive and 109 (61%) tested negative. A comparison of the two groups revealed that only a few factors tested for either significance or borderline statistical significance between the two groups. These factors included the estrogen receptor status and the number of lymph nodes involved in the axilla. The progesterone receptor status was of borderline significance. Conclusion: Given the large number of factors tested it appears that there is no consistent defining feature which helps to separate HER-2/neu positive versus HER-2/neu negative cases with Breast Cancer.