Breast carcinoma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Characterization of hormone receptors

Purpose: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, and understanding its characteristics is crucial for effective treatment. Therefore, this study aims to investigate breast carcinomas as a function of hormone receptors (estrogen and progesterone) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which can contribute to better management of breast cancer cases in the country.Methods: We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study from 2014 to 2016 in the cities of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Using non-random sampling, we collected 86 cases of breast carcinoma.Results: The study found that out of the 86 cases of breast carcinoma, 33 patients (38.3%) had both types of hormone receptors (ER+/PgR+), while 37 patients (43.0%) had negative results for both receptor types (ER-/PgR-). Additionally, 15 patients (17.4%) had only estrogen receptors. The study did not find any significant association between the presence of estrogen receptors and patient age, T stage, histological type, and Ki67 proliferation index. However, the study did observe that estrogen receptors were significantly more present in grade I and II tumors (74.4%) than in grade III tumors (40.4%) (Odds ratio=4.3 [1.7-10.8]; p=0.003).Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate a high prevalence of hormone receptors in breast cancer cases in the DRC. Additionally, the study revealed a significant association between the presence of estrogen receptors and tumor grade, underlining the relevance of these markers in the characterization and treatment of the disease.