Utilizing immune signatures for breast cancer subtyping in treatment approaches

Abstract

Breast cancer, a prevalent form of cancer in women, presents various categories that pose challenges in defining specific treatment approaches. Immunohistochemistry, a combination of immunology and histology, has made significant advancements in identifying specific surface receptors on cancer cells. This information serves as the basis for guiding appropriate treatment regimens and predicting prognosis for patients. A survey conducted on 75 tissue samples revealed the diversity of breast carcinoma types, with the infiltrative tubular form being the most common, accounting for 73.3% of cases. By utilizing immunoassay markers on these tissues, the expression rates of ER (estrogen receptor), PR (progesterone receptor), and Her2/neu were determined to be 29.2%, 52%, and 22.7%, respectively. Classification of breast cancer based on these markers showed that the ER/PR+HER2- group accounted for 24% of cases. The ER-/PR+HER2- group accounted for 18.7%, while the ER+/PR+HER2+, ER-/PR+HER2+, and ER-PR+Her2+ groups each represented 12% of cases. The ER-/PRHER2+HER2+ group accounted for 8%, and a subgroup where all three markers were negative accounted for 22.7% of cases. Estrogen and progesterone expression showed a moderately positive correlation (0 < r = 0.445 < 0.5; p <0.05). However, the expression of Her2/neu in ER-negative tumors did not show statistical significance (p > 0.05) and exhibited a reverse correlation with r = -0.016.