A population-based study of Kurdish breast cancer in northern Iraq: hormone receptor and HER2 status. A comparison with Arabic women and United States SEER data

Changing Trends in Estrogen Receptors/Progesterone Receptors/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Prevalence Rates Among Jordanian Patients With Breast Cancer Over the Years

PURPOSE

Estrogen receptors (ERs), progesterone receptors (PRs), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are the mainstay of breast cancer management, and their prevalence rates vary among different populations possibly related to ethnic/genetic and/or socioeconomic status. In a previous study conducted at the King Hussein Cancer Center (published 2006), Jordan ER/PR/HER2 rates for patients diagnosed in 2003-2004 were 50.8%/57.5%/17.5%, respectively. The aim of this study is to revisit the prevalence rates to see if they have changed over the years with changing socioeconomic status.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrieved clinicopathologic data of all patients (1,185) diagnosed with breast cancer during 2018. The data included age, histologic type, grade, and ER/PR/HER2 status as determined by immunohistochemistry and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization for HER2.

RESULTS

The mean age of patients was 52 (median = 51, range = 25-92) years, and the majority (73.2%) had invasive carcinoma of no special type. ER/PR/HER2 were 77.0%/72.4%./23.8%, respectively. Triple-negative breast cancers were 10.1%. In comparison with previous results of 2006, the changes are statistically significant. Similar changes were seen in other Middle Eastern populations. The current rates are close to those of Western populations.

CONCLUSION

Rates of ER/PR/HER2 expression have significantly changed and are close to those of Western populations for ER/PR. We propose that such changes are secondary to the adoption of a westernized lifestyle and socioeconomic changes.

CORRELATION BETWEEN PRIMARY TUMOR SIZES WITH PROGNOSTIC MARKERS IN BREAST CARCINOMA IN IRAQI WOMEN: IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY

OBJECTIVE

The aim: The study aimed assessment of immunohistochemical expression of ER, PR, Ki-67 and HER2 in breast carcinoma, studied the relation between size of primary tumor and these markers and distribution of molecular subtypes between both study groups.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Materials and methods: The study was implemented immunohistochemistry laboratories of Al-Sadder Teaching Medical City in Al Najaf during the period from September 2020-september2021, forty four women with breast carcinoma who undergone modified radical mastectomy were involved in this study, aged between 29 -81 years, mean age being 47.3 yr. we divided study group into two categories; depending on tumor size, with cutoff point of 2 cm. Envision technique applied for evaluation of expression of ER, PR, Ki-67 and HER2.

RESULTS

Results: Among all patients, ER expressed in 70.45%, PR in 68.18%, HER2/neu in 18.18%, High ki-67 index in 52.27%.

CONCLUSION

Conclusions: Molecular subtype luminal A tend to occur in smaller tumor size compared to basal subtype which tend to occur in larger size of tumors. Breast carcinoma tumor size showed no significant correlation regarding histological grade, immunohistochemical expression of ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 labeling index.

Candidate Genes for Age at Menarche Are Associated With Uterine Leiomyoma

Age at menarche (AAM) is an important marker of the pubertal development and function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian system. It was reported as a possible factor for a risk of uterine leiomyoma (UL). However, while more than 350 loci for AAM have been determined by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) to date, no studies of these loci for their association with UL have been conducted so far. In this study, we analyzed 52 candidate loci for AAM for possible association with UL in a sample of 569 patients and 981 controls. The results of the study suggested that 23 out of the 52 studied polymorphisms had association with UL. Locus rs7759938 LIN28B was individually associated with the disease according to the dominant model. Twenty loci were associated with UL within 11 most significant models of intergenic interactions. Nine loci involved in 16 most significant models of interactions between single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), induced abortions, and chronic endometritis were associated with UL. Among the 23 loci associated with UL, 16 manifested association also with either AAM (7 SNPs) or height and/or body mass index (BMI) (13 SNPs). The above 23 SNPs and 514 SNPs linked to them have non-synonymous, regulatory, and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) significance for 35 genes, which play roles in the pathways related to development of the female reproductive organs and hormone-mediated signaling [false discovery rate (FDR) ≤ 0.05]. This is the first study reporting associations of candidate genes for AAM with UL.

Breast cancer in togolese women: immunohistochemistry subtypes

Background

Molecular classification of breast cancer is an important factor for prognostic and clinical outcomes. There are no data regarding molecular breast cancer subtypes among Togolese women. The objective of this study was to evaluate the expression of ER, PR, HER2, and molecular subtypes of breast cancer receptors in Togolese patients and to establish the correlation between clinical and histological data and molecular types.

Methods

Clinicopathologic data of patients were collected from clinical records. Immunohistochemistry biomarkers (ER, PR, and HER2) were assessed in patients who have been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from March 2016 to March 2020 in the department of oncology. The analysis of variance and the Chi-square Test was used to analyze the data.

Results

A total of 117 cases were collected. The mean age of patients was 52.05 ± 12.38 with an age range of 30 to 85 years. Half of the patients were over 50 years old and the majority (70.9%) was postmenopausal. More than half of patients (52.1%) presented with T3-T4tumors.The most common histologic subtype of breast cancer was invasive ductal carcinoma of no special type (95.7%). Tumors grade 2 were predominant (51.3%) followed by grade 3 (42.7%). Advanced carcinomas were found in 69 patients (59%). The percentage of ER+, PR+, and HER2 positive tumors was 54.7%, 41%, and 15.4% respectively. The predominant molecular subtype was Triple negative (37.6%), followed by Luminal A (30.8.7%), Luminal B subtype (23.9%), and HER2 enriched (7.7%). There was a significant association between stage and breast cancer subtypes (p 0.025), histologic grade, and subtype (p < 0.0001) but no correlation was found with age, menopausal status, and tumor size.

Conclusion

Breast carcinoma in our patients are high grade tumors and are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Triple negative and Luminal A are the two predominant breast cancer subtypes in Togolese women. Consequently, Receptor testing availability should be a priority to offer the best breast cancer treatment.

Determinants of screening methods utilization among Iraq/Sulaimani women

PURPOSE

This study aims to find out the participation rate of women in the utilization of screening methods to determine the relationship of sociodemographic health characteristics and breast cancer (BC) awareness with the utilization of screening methods. The authors' study aims to examine the relationship between women's belief and the utilization of screening methods.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

A cross-sectional study was conducted in three health centers from December 13, 2016 to June 12, 2017. A questionnaire was constructed for data collection about sociodemographic characteristics, screening awareness and medical and health background variables. Additionally, BC awareness measure and champion health belief model scales were used to measure women's perceptiveness about BC.

FINDINGS

Despite the awareness among 78.9% of women regarding clinical breast examination (CBE) as a screening method, only 9.5% women utilized it for screening. Due to prescription by physicians for diagnosis of BC, 23.6% women had done mammography at least once in their life. Having jobs and a good education significantly influenced the utilization of CBE as a screening method. The logistic regression analysis found that old age, family history of BC, good knowledge about BC, perceived susceptibility, low rate of perceived barriers to mammography and CBE predicted participation in screening.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

Enhancing knowledge about BC and screening, emphasizing the susceptibility to BC and the benefits of screening will help in better participation. Importance should be given to illiterate and unemployed women.

Incidence trend of breast Cancer in women of eastern Mediterranean region countries from 1998 to 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

This study was conducted to provide evidence on the current status of breast cancer and its incidence trend in Eastern Mediterranean Region during 1998-2019. Also, this study aimed to investigate the association between the incidence of breast cancer and Human Development Index and some factors related to this index, including total fertility rate, and obesity, using a meta-analysis.

METHOD

Data on incidence of breast cancer were collected from various sources, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and WHO, from 1998 to 2019 using systematic review and meta-analysis. Pooled age standardized rate was calculated based on study duration and quality of data using a subgroup analysis and random effect meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 80 studies (545 data points) were analyzed. Pooled age standardized rate of breast cancer for Eastern Mediterranean Region was 37.1 per 100,000 person-year (95% confidence interval [CI], 34.5, 39.8) during 2011-2019. age standardized rate of breast cancer had an upward trend in Eastern Mediterranean Region from 2005 to 2019. However, the increasing trend was found to be slightly different in various regions based on quality of data. Moreover, pooled age standardized rate had a significant association with Human Development Index [- 89.2 (95% CI, - 119.8, - 58.7)] and obesity [1.2 (95% CI, 0.9, 1.5)].

CONCLUSION

Pooled age standardized rate of breast cancer in Eastern Mediterranean Region was lower than the global average. Also, the age standardized rate value and its incremental trend have been higher in countries with high-quality data than in other countries of this region in recent years. Data quality or physiological factors, such as increase in obesity rates, could be the reasons for this incremental trend.

Presentation, tumour and treatment features in immigrant women from Arabic-speaking countries treated for breast cancer in Australia

BACKGROUND

Australia has a large population of immigrant women from Arabic-speaking countries. The aim of this study was to examine breast cancer tumour and surgical treatment features for women born in Arabic-speaking countries and compare them to women born in Australia and other countries. Another aim was to consider how this information can inform clinical care for this multicultural population.

METHODS

This is a retrospective audit of an institutional breast cancer database. Demographic, tumour and surgical treatment data were extracted for the Arab women and compared to Australian-born women (comparison 1) and to women born in all other countries (comparison 2); chi-squared analysis was performed to test for differences between groups.

RESULTS

A total of 2086 cases with country of birth information were identified, of whom 139 women (6.7%) were born in Arabic-speaking countries, 894 (42.8%) were born in Australia and 1053 (50.4%) were born in other countries (71 nations). Arab women tended to be younger (P = 0.013), more disadvantaged (P < 0.001), were more likely to have symptomatic rather than screen-detected breast cancer (P < 0.001), had a higher rate of high grade (P = 0.021), HER2-positive (P = 0.025) breast cancer compared to Australian-born women or others. There was no difference in tumour (pT) stage, rate of breast conservation versus mastectomy, re-excision and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy between groups. Australian-born women were more likely to undergo breast reconstruction after mastectomy (P < 0.001); reconstruction rate was >29% in all groups.

CONCLUSION

Women born in Arabic-speaking countries were younger, more disadvantaged and showed more aggressive tumour features. This has implications for supportive care during treatment and survivorship.

Meta-Analysis of Changes in Sleep Quality of Women with Breast Cancer before and after Therapy

Cancer treatments may affect the sleep quality and even future quality of life of women with breast cancer. A meta-analysis was performed to understand the changes in the sleep quality of women with breast cancer during their treatment period. In a systematic literature review in compliance with the PRISMA guidelines, we searched for articles published between 2000 and 2018 in databases. A total of 12 study articles were included. The standardized mean differences of the pooling effect size of sleep quality between the period before treatment and 1-8 weeks, 9-16 weeks, 17-24 weeks, and 25-56 weeks after the commencement of treatment were -0.020, -0.162, 0.075, and 0.216, respectively. Although the differences were not statistically significant, in view of the heterogeneity among the studies, we conducted further analysis using a linear mixed effect model. The overall results indicated poorer sleep quality as time passed from the start of the first treatment (p = 0.014). The results of this study revealed that patients experienced better sleep quality in the initial months after the beginning of treatment; however, their sleep quality became poorer between 4 months to approximately 1 year after the beginning of treatment, compared with the sleep quality before treatment, and continued to decline rather than improve during the follow-up period.

Breast Cancer in Basra Oncology Center: A Clinico- Epidemiological Analysis

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women, and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Objective: This study was performed to evaluate clinico-epidemiological features of breast cancer from Iraq during a five-year period. Methodology: This is a retrospective descriptive study. Medical notes and histopathological reports of patients with confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer between January 2011 and December 2015 were reviewed for age, gender, site, laterality, histopathological type, grade of differentiation and TNM stage at diagnosis. Results: A total of 1,000 patients were included in the study. Mean age at diagnosis was 50 years (range 22-85 years), and females constituted 99.2% of cases. Most cases (98.7%) were unilateral and most common (85.5%) histological subtype was invasive ductal carcinoma. Majority of the cases (58%) were moderately differentiated (grade II), wherein 45% belonged to stage II in TNM system, and nearly half (49%) of patients had locally advanced or metastatic cancer. Conclusion: Breast cancer presents at least a decade earlier and at a more advanced stage in Iraqi women when compared to the Western World. Steps for early detection are essential for initiation of prompt therapy and reduction of mortality.

Rising global burden of breast cancer: the case of sub-Saharan Africa (with emphasis on Nigeria) and implications for regional development: a review

BACKGROUND

Despite mortality from breast cancer in Africa being higher than in high income countries, breast cancer has not been extensively studied in the region. The aim of this paper was to highlight the rising burden of breast cancer with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa as well as trends, characteristics, controversies and their implications for regional development.

METHODOLOGY

A review of published studies and documents was conducted in Medline, Scopus, Pubmed and Google using combinations of key words-breast neoplasm, breast cancer, cancer, incidence, mortality, Africa, Nigeria. Graphical and frequency analyses were carried out on some of the incidence and mortality figures retrieved from published papers and the GLOBOCAN website.

FINDINGS

Globally, about 25% and 15% of all new cancer cases and cancer deaths respectively among females were due to breast cancer. Africa currently had the highest age-standardized breast cancer mortality rate globally, with the highest incidence rates being recorded within the sub-Saharan African sub-region. Incidence trends such as inherently aggressive tumour and younger age profile had been subject to controversies. Certain factors such as westernized diet, urbanization and possibly increasing awareness had been implicated, though their specific contributions were yet to be fully established.

CONCLUSION

Unless urgent action is taken, breast cancer will compound sub-Saharan Africa's disease burden, increase poverty and gender inequality as well as reverse the current global gains against maternal and neonatal mortality.

Molecular Subtypes of Indonesian Breast Carcinomas - Lack of Association with Patient Age and Tumor Size

Objective: Breast carcinoma (BC) is a heterogeneous disease that exhibits variation in biological behaviour, prognosis and response to therapy. Molecular classification is generally into Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2+ and triple negative/basal-like, depending on receptor characteristics. Clinical factors that determined the BC prognosis are age and tumor size. Since information on molecular subtypes of Indonesian BCs is limited, the present study was conducted, with attention to subtypes in relation to age and tumor size. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of 247 paraffin-embedded samples of invasive BC from Dr. Sardjito General Hospital Yogyakarta in the year 2012- 2015 was performed. Immunohistochemical staining using anti- ER, PR, HER2, Ki-67 and CK 5/6 antibodies was applied to classify molecular subtypes. Associations with age and tumor size were analyzed using the Chi Square Test. Results: The Luminal A was the most common subtype of Indonesian BC (41.3%), followed by triple negative (25.5%), HER2 (19.4%) and luminal B (13.8%). Among the triple negative lesions, the basal-like subtype was more frequent than the non basal-like (58.8 % vs 41.2%). Luminal B accounted for the highest percentage of younger age cases (< 40 years old) while HER2+ was most common in older age (> 50 years old) patients. Triple negative/basal-like were commonly large in size. Age (p = 0.080) and tumor size (p = 0.462) were not significantly associated with molecular subtypes of BC. Conclusion: The most common molecular subtype of Indonesian BC is luminal A, followed by triple-negative, HER2+ and luminal B. The majority of triple-negative lesions are basal-like. There are no association between age and tumor size with molecular subtypes of Indonesian BCs.

Breast Cancer Epidemiology in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: A Regional and International Comparison

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed noncutaneous malignancy in women living in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The present report aimed to highlight the similarities and variations in breast cancer incidence, age at diagnosis, clinicopathologic features, molecular characteristics, and lifestyle factors that contribute to an increasing incidence of breast cancer compared with neighboring Arab and westernized countries. The data presented, although having important implications for policy makers, also highlights the need for further research. Such research would ensure that effective prevention and detection strategies are tailored to the specific needs of the Gulf women such that the management of breast cancer is optimized.

Breast cancer in Iraq is associated with a unimodally distributed predominance of luminal type B over luminal type A surrogates from young to old age

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer has recently increased in post-menopausal Iraqi women. In Western countries at high-risk for breast cancer, there is a bimodal increase in estrogen receptor (ER) positive tumors with a peak of low proliferation rate luminal A over higher proliferation rate luminal B tumors after 60 years of age. The aim of this study was to analyze in Iraqi women whether shifts are occurring in immunohistochemical (IHC) surrogates of molecular breast cancer subtypes toward a high-risk profile.

METHODS

Age specific and age standardized womens breast cancer incidence was estimated for the years 2006 through 2012. IHC results of ER, PR, HER2, and Ki67 testing were analyzed on the breast cancers of 125 Arabic and 725 Kurdish women by frequency of distribution and by age.

RESULTS

Between 2006 and 2012, age standardized incidence of breast cancer in Iraq increased from 30 to 40/100,000 women with the increase specifically occurring in women ≥ 60 years old (P < 0.001). Breast cancers in Kurdish women ≥ 60 years old may also have increased (P = 0.047) with urban exceeding rural rates by 2:1. For both Kurdish and Arabic women, there was a marked predominance of luminal B tumors at all ages in which luminal B and luminal A tumors were asymmetric skewed toward older age but with no late luminal A age peak.

CONCLUSIONS

Older Iraqi women do not show the bimodal shift toward higher rates of luminal A breast cancers seen in the West. The modest increase in age standardized incidence of breast cancer in Iraqi is being seen specifically in older women and may be better attributed to a trend for care in urban cancer centers rather than changing tumor characteristics.

First report on molecular breast cancer subtypes and their clinico-pathological characteristics in Eastern Morocco: series of 2260 cases

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy among women in Eastern Morocco. In this paper, we provide the first report on molecular breast cancer subtypes in this region. This is the largest population-based study on breast cancer among Moroccan women.

METHODS

We analyzed 2260 breast cancer cases diagnosed at the Hassan II Regional Oncology Center between October 2005 and December 2012. Clinico-pathological and therapeutic features were studied. Molecular subtypes were determined and their associations with the clinico-pathological characteristics of the tumors were examined.

RESULTS

The mean age at diagnosis was 48.7 years ±11.4. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the predominant histological type (77.1%), followed by lobular invasive carcinoma (15.3%). The mean size of breast tumors was 3.5 cm ± 1.96, and 84% of our patients are diagnosed with tumors of more than 2 cm. Histological grade II tumors were the most frequent (70.4%), followed by advanced histological grade (18%). Lymph node positive tumors were observed in 64.8% of cases and 29.3% of patients had distant metastasis. Most tumors were hormone receptor-positive (73%) and 28.6% were HER2 positive. 86.1% of patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer were given hormone therapy, while 68.9% of patients with HER2+ breast cancer received targeted therapy with Herceptin. Luminal A was the commonest molecular subtype, followed by Luminal B, Triple Negative and HER2. The highest prevalence of premenopausal patients was observed in Triple Negative subtype (72.2%), followed by HER2 (64.1%), Luminal B (62.2%), and Luminal A (55.1%). Luminal B subtype had a poorer prognosis than Luminal A. Compared with Triple Negative, HER2 subtype tend to spread more aggressively and is associated with poorer prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Unlike Western countries, breast cancer occurs at an earlier age and is diagnosed at a more advanced stage in Eastern Morocco. In this region, hormone receptor-positive tumors are predominant and so the majority of breast cancer patients should benefit from hormone therapy. HER2 subtype presents an aggressive tendency, suggesting the importance of anti-HER2 therapy. This study will contribute in developing appropriate screening and cancer management strategies in Eastern Morocco.

Immunohistochemistry subtypes (ER/PR/HER) of breast cancer: where do we stand in the West of Saudi Arabia?

In Saudi Arabia, cancer of breast is ranked the most frequent neoplasm and second source of cancer death in the female population. Breast cancer (BC) fast diagnosis, prognosis and medication management necessitate, these days, immunohistochemistry (IHC) assessment of hormone receptors and HER2 expression profile. The present report defines the IHC profile of ER, PR and HER2 in Saudi female breast neoplasms of ductal and lobular types and associations ER, PR and HER2 expression patterns with various clinicopathological factors (age, type of tumor, size, laterality, histological grade, and involvement of axillaries lymph nodes). Ninety nine cases of breast tumors were recruited from the pathology department archive of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ER, PR and HER2 expression was assessed using IHC staining. Ductal carcinomas with a variety of histological grades constituted 88 (88.8%) of total cases. Seventy four (77.8%), 59 (62.1%), and 35 (36.8%) of ductal carcinomas showed positive staining for ER, PR and HER2, in that order. Remaining breast cancer cases were four (4%) lobular carcinomas and two (2%) mixed form of ductal and lobular types, which were ER+, PR+, and HER2-. Breast cancer expression pattern of ER, PR and HER2 in Saudi female is different from that of Tunisian and Jordanian female populations and closer to the expression pattern of Egyptian, Lebanese, Iraqi and western country females. Furthermore, the present study found two IHC patterns of breast cancer ER+/PR-/HER2+ (5%) and ER+/PR-/HER2- (11.1%), which had not been reported in other Arabic studies. Thus the rates of IHC expression patterns in breast cancer show some variation among Arabic female populations.

Overexpression of HER2/neu as a Prognostic Value in Iranian Women With Early Stage Breast Cancer; A Single Institute Study

Background:

Patients with early stage breast cancer with same treatment strategy can have markedly different outcomes. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/nue) gene amplification or the subsequent overexpression of protein has been proved to be associated with patient's outcome and response to anthracyclins-based regimens.

Objectives:

This study assessed prognostic value of HER2/nue marker in patients with early stage breast cancer who received adjuvant chemotherapy with anthracyclins-based regimens.

Materials and Methods:

Fifty tissue samples from patients with primary breast cancer of moderate risk receiving sequential adjuvant chemotherapy with anthracyclins-based regimens were assessed to evaluate HER2/nue gene status (quantified by Immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization) retrospectively. Besides, correlation of HER2/neu with patients' characteristics and outcome was studied.

Results:

HER2/neu amplification was identified in 19 (38%) of 50 patients. No significant difference regarding HER2/neu status was seen in clinic pathological characteristics of patients. Although Progression Free Survival (PFS) was shorter in HER2 overexpressed group, but uni/multivariate analysis adjusted for HER2 overexpression, nodal involvement, hormone receptor status, age and tumor size revealed no significant predictive and/or prognostic value for HER2 regarding PFS.

Conclusions:

This study on a limited number of patients treated with adjutant anthracyclins-based regimens, revealed that HER2/neu is not a unique strong predictor for outcome, thus according to combination of HER2/neu status and other clinical factors, it is necessary to distinguish patients at high risk of recurrence.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 and estrogen receptor status in respect to tumor characteristics in non-metastatic breast cancer

BACKGROUND

The expressions of estrogen receptor (ER) and cell surface receptor, Tyrosine Kinase Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER 2), have emerged as the most important molecular biomarkers determining the breast cancer prognosis. In this study, interactions between ER and HER2 were assessed to determine if they modulate tumor characteristics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Tissue samples from 120 patients with early stage breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy were reviewed to evaluate ER and HER2 status quantified by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization, and the correlation of ER and HER2 with patient characteristics and tumor pathology was studied.

RESULTS

A total of 37(30.8%) and 80(66.6%) out of 120 samples were HER2 (3+ by immunohistochemistry or positive by fluorescent in situ hybridization) and ER positive (by immunohistochemistry), respectively. ER-negative tumors were significantly more likely to be HER-2 positive than were ER-positive tumors (21.25%; odds ratio, 0.270; 95% CI, 0.119 to 0.612; P = 0.002). ER positivity was associated with <2 cm tumor size and higher histological grade (P = 0.007 and 0.019, respectively). No significant correlation was seen between the co-expression of HER2 and ER and tumor characteristics.

CONCLUSION

HER2 positive tumors were less common compared to ER positive tumors in early stage breast cancer Iranian patients. Also, higher histological grade among ER negative tumors showed higher aggressiveness of the tumor. Future studies are needed to evaluate the effect of receptor status on prognosis.