The correlation between Ki-67 with other prognostic factors in breast cancer: A study in Iranian patients

Correlation between Histopathological Prognostic Tumor Characteristics and [18F]FDG Uptake in Corresponding Metastases in Newly Diagnosed Metastatic Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND

In metastatic breast cancer (MBC), [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([18F]FDG-PET/CT) can be used for staging. We evaluated the correlation between BC histopathological characteristics and [18F]FDG uptake in corresponding metastases.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with non-rapidly progressive MBC of all subtypes prospectively underwent a baseline histological metastasis biopsy and [18F]FDG-PET. Biopsies were assessed for estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ER, PR, HER2); Ki-67; and histological subtype. [18F]FDG uptake was expressed as maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and results were expressed as geometric means.

RESULTS

Of 200 patients, 188 had evaluable metastasis biopsies, and 182 of these contained tumor. HER2 positivity and Ki-67 ≥ 20% were correlated with higher [18F]FDG uptake (estimated geometric mean SUVmax 10.0 and 8.8, respectively; p = 0.0064 and p = 0.014). [18F]FDG uptake was lowest in ER-positive/HER2-negative BC and highest in HER2-positive BC (geometric mean SUVmax 6.8 and 10.0, respectively; p = 0.0058). Although [18F]FDG uptake was lower in invasive lobular carcinoma (n = 31) than invasive carcinoma NST (n = 146) (estimated geometric mean SUVmax 5.8 versus 7.8; p = 0.014), the metastasis detection rate was similar.

CONCLUSIONS

[18F]FDG-PET is a powerful tool to detect metastases, including invasive lobular carcinoma. Although BC histopathological characteristics are related to [18F]FDG uptake, [18F]FDG-PET and biopsy remain complementary in MBC staging (NCT01957332).

Fall in Ki67 Index After Short-Term Preoperative Letrozole: a Gateway to Assess the Response in Hormone-Positive Early Breast Cancers

Endocrine treatment for breast cancer acts largely by inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. The study aimed to explore the fall in proliferative marker Ki67 in patients receiving preoperative endocrine therapy and the factors associated with it. A prospective series of hormone receptor-positive postmenopausal women with early N0/N1 breast cancer were enrolled. Patients were requested to take letrozole OD while they await surgery. The fall in Ki67 after the endocrine therapy was defined as the percentage of the difference between the pre-and postoperative Ki67 value with the preoperative Ki67. Sixty cases matched the criteria of which 41 (68.3%) of women showed a good response to preoperative letrozole (fall in Ki67 > 50%; p-value < 0.001). The average mean fall in Ki67 was 57.083 ± 37.97. Postoperative Ki67 after the therapy was less than 10% in 39 (65%) patients. Ten patients (16.6%) had a low Ki67 index at baseline, which continued to remain low after preoperative endocrine therapy. The duration of the therapy did not affect the percentage of Ki67 fall in our study. Short-term changes in the Ki67 index in the neoadjuvant settings may predict outcomes during adjuvant use of the same treatment. Proliferation index on residual tumor holds prognostic importance, and our results reflect that greater attention should be given to the percentage of reduction of Ki67, rather than focusing purely on a fixed value. This could help predict patients who respond well to endocrine therapy, while those who respond poorly may require further adjuvant treatment.

Correlation between the expression of Ki67 and histopathological grade, tumor size, disease-free survival, and overall survival among breast cancer patients

INTRODUCTION

Identifying Ki67, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes proliferating cells, is important for defining the level of proliferative activity among patients with breast cancer. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the correlation between Ki67's expression and histopathological grade, tumor size, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) among breast cancer patients.

METHODS

Our retrospective cohort study involved examining 114 patients with breast cancer at our institution from January 2018 to December 2019. Participants were retrospectively followed to determine the progression of their disease, and their 2-year progress was examined with survival analysis, especially regarding whether they had postoperative relapse (i.e., DFS) or had died since being diagnosed (i.e., OS). The data were processed with a chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier test, with significance set at p < 0.05.

RESULT

The overexpression of Ki67 correlated significantly with histopathological grade (p = 0.001), tumor size (p = 0.001), DFS (p = 0.001), and OS (p = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

Ki67's overexpression is significantly correlated with the tumor size, DFS, and OS of patients with breast cancer.

Unchartered waters: Significance of fall in Ki67 index after short-term preoperative endocrine therapy in early breast cancers

BACKGROUND

Endocrine treatment for breast cancer acts largely by inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. The biomarker Ki67 is linked to the proliferative index of the tumour.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the factors affecting the fall in Ki67 value in early-stage hormone receptor (HR) positive breast cancer patients receiving short-term preoperative endocrine therapy in an Indian cohort.

METHODS

Women with hormone receptor positive, invasive, nonmetastatic, and early breast cancer (<T2, <N1) were assigned to short-term preoperative tamoxifen 20 mg daily (pre-menopausal women) or Letrozole 2.5 mg daily (post-menopausal women) for a minimum of 7 days after noting the baseline Ki67 value from the diagnostic core biopsy specimen. The postoperative Ki67 value was estimated from the surgical specimen, and the factors determining the extent of fall were evaluated.

RESULTS

The short-term preoperative endocrine therapy resulted in a reduction in the median Ki67 index, which was significantly greater among postmenopausal women who received Letrozole (63.25 (31.94-80.5)) than among premenopausal women who received Tamoxifen (0 (-28.99-62.25)) (p-value 0.001). The fall in Ki67 value was particularly marked for patients with low-grade tumors with high Estrogen and progesterone receptor expression (p-value < 0.05). The duration of treatment (<2 week or 2-4 week or >4 week) did not affect the fall in Ki67.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative therapy with Letrozole resulted in a more significant fall in Ki67, as compared to therapy with Tamoxifen. Determining the fall in Ki67 value in response to preoperative endocrine therapy could provide an insight into the response to endocrine therapy in luminal breast cancer.

Identification of the metabolic signatures of prostate cancer by mass spectrometry-based plasma and urine metabolomics analysis

OBJECTIVE

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among men which is associated with profound metabolic changes. Systematic analysis of the metabolic alterations and identification of new biomarkers may benefit PCa diagnosis and a deep understanding of the pathological mechanism. The purpose of this study was to determine the metabolic features of PCa.

METHODS

Plasma and urine metabolites from 89 prostate cancer (PCa) patients, 84 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients, and 70 healthy males were analyzed using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. The Orthogonalised Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to find the significantly changed metabolites. The clinical value of the candidate markers was examined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and compared with prostate-specific antigen (PSA).

RESULTS

Multivariate statistical analyses found a series of altered metabolites, which related to the urea cycle, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), fatty acid metabolism, and the glycine cleavage system. Plasma Glu/Gln showed the highest predictive value (AUC = 0.984) when differentiating PCa patients from healthy controls, with a higher sensitivity than PSA (96.6% vs. 94.4%). Both Glu/Gln and PSA displayed a low specificity when differentiating PCa patients from BPH patients (<53.2%), while the combination of Glu/Gln and PSA can further increase the diagnostic specificity to 66.9%.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study showed the metabolic features of PCa, provided strong evidence that the amide nitrogen and the energy metabolic pathways could be a valuable source of markers for PCa. Several candidate markers identified in this study were clinically valuable for further assessment.

Impact of Breast Tumor Onset on Blood Count, Carcinoembryonic Antigen, Cancer Antigen 15-3 and Lymphoid Subpopulations Supported by Automatic Classification Approach: A Pilot Study

Background

Recent observations showed that systemic immune changes are detectable in case of breast cancer (BC). In this preliminary study, we investigated routinely measured peripheral blood (PB) parameters for malignant BC cases in comparison to benign breast conditions. Complete blood count, circulating lymphoid subpopulation, and serological carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) levels were considered.

Methods

A total of 127 female patients affected by malignant (n = 77, mean age = 63 years, min = 36, max = 90) BC at diagnosis (naïve patients) or benign breast conditions (n = 50, mean age = 33 years, min = 18, max = 60) were included in this study. For each patient, complete blood count and lymphoid subpopulations (T-helper, T-cytotoxic, B-, NK-, and NKT-cells) analysis on PB samples were performed. Hormonal receptor status, Ki-67 expression, and serological CEA and CA15-3 levels were assessed in the case of patients with malignant BC via statistical analysis.

Results

Women with malignant BC disclosed increased circulating T-helper lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 ratio in PB when compared to those affected by benign breast conditions (2.345 vs 1.894, P < .05 Wilcoxon rank-sum test). In the case of malignant BC patients, additive logistic regression method was able to identify malignant BC cases with increased CA15-3 levels (CA15-3 >25 UI/mL) via the hematocrit and neutrophils/lymphocytes ratio values. Moreover, in the case of women with aggressive malignant BC featured by high levels of Ki-67 proliferation marker, an increasing number of correlations were found among blood count parameters and lymphocytes subpopulations by performing a Spearman’s correlation analysis.

Conclusions

This preliminary study confirms the ability of malignant BC to determine systemic modifications. The stratification of malignant BC cases according to the Ki-67 proliferation marker highlighted increasing detectable alterations in the periphery of women with aggressive BC. The advent of novel and more sensitive biomarkers, as well as deep immunophenotyping technologies, will provide additional insights for describing the relationship between tumor onset and peripheral alterations.

Immunohistochemical Evaluation of FGD3 Expression: A New Strong Prognostic Factor in Invasive Breast Cancer

Among new prognostic factors for breast cancer, the most promising one seems to be FGD3 (Facio-Genital Dysplasia 3) gene, whose expression improves outcome by inhibiting cell migration. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic role of FGD3 in invasive breast cancer in a series of 401 women, treated at our unit, by evaluating the expression of this gene by immunohistochemistry. Patients with high FGD3 expression showed a significantly better disease-free survival (DFS) (p < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (p < 0.001). The prognostic value of FGD3 expression was stronger than that of classical pathologic parameters such as histological grade of differentiation, Ki-67 index and molecular subtype. By multivariate Cox analysis, FGD3 expression was confirmed as significant and independent prognostic factor, ranking second after age at diagnosis (≤40 years) for DFS (p = 0.003) and the second strongest predictor of OS, after AJCC Stage (p < 0.001). Our data suggest that inclusion of FGD3 evaluation in the routine workup of breast cancer patients may result in a more accurate stratification of the individual risk. The possibility to assess FGD3 expression by a simple and cheap technique such as immunohistochemistry may enhance the spread of its use in the clinical practice.

Prognostic factors influencing prognosis in early breast cancer patients

Aim of the study

The present study showed the clinicopathological characteristics and survival of early breast cancer (BC) patients.

Material and methods

A total of 236 patients were included in the study. The mean follow-up time was 59.5 months (range: 12-204 months). The inclusion criteria consisted of female patients aged > 20 years and early BC patients (stages I and IIA).

Results

The mean age at diagnosis was 51.2 years (range, 23-83 years), and 55.9% of patients were aged ≥ 50 years. Most patients (92.8%) did not have lymph node metastasis, and luminal B had the highest prevalence (54.2%) in patients. The eight-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 98.3% and 92.3%, respectively. Stage IIA and Ki67 index ≥ 14% were more prevalent in the patients with tumour size of 2 ≤ T ≤ 5 cm compared to another tumour size group and Ki67 index.

Conclusions

The mean age at diagnosis in this study was in agreement with other studies reported in various areas, but with a higher percentage for elderly patients compared to some previous studies. In addition, the survival rate in the present study was higher than the results of previous studies. Future studies need to investigate these factors in a higher number of patients and in different areas and should select similar stages for early BC.

A Machine Learning Approach for the Association of ki-67 Scoring with Prognostic Factors

ki-67 score is a solid tumor proliferation marker being associated with the prognosis of breast carcinoma and its response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the way of clustering of prognostic factors by ki-67 score using a machine learning approach and multiple correspondence analysis. In this study, 223 patients with breast carcinoma were analyzed using the random forest method for classification of prognostic factors according to ki-67 groups (<14% and >14%). Also the relationship between subgroups of prognostic factors and ki-67 scores was examined by multiple correspondence analysis. There was a clustering of molecular classification LA, 0-3 metastatic lymph node, age <50, absence of LVI, T1 tumor size with ki-67 <14% and grade III, 10 or more metastatic lymph nodes, and presence of LVI and molecular classification LB, age >50, and T3-T4 tumor size categories with ki-67 >14%. The fact that the low scores of ki-67 correlate with early stage diseases and high scores with advanced disease suggests that 14% threshold value is crucial for ki-67 score.

Proliferative Index (Ki67) for Prediction in Breast Duct Carcinomas

Background and objectives: To date, many tumor markers have been used to predict prognosis and therapeutic response in patients with breast cancer. The well established and routinely applied tumor markers are the estrogen-receptor, progesterone-receptor and Her2/neu-receptor. In the current study, we aimed to highlight any association of the proliferation index (Ki67) in breast infiltrative duct carcinoma with the tumor grade, tumor size and nodal status in addition to hormone receptor status. Tissue sections were stained immunohistochemically for Ki67 nuclear antigen, estrogen, progesterone and Her2/neu receptors using an automated Dako machine (Dako Denmark. There was a significant inverse relationship of Ki67 levels with ER and PR, while values were directly proportional to the tumor grade and Her2/neu status. No significant association was found between Ki67 and size of tumor or nodal status. Ki67 immunoexpression may offer an independent predictive tumor marker and for routine application in cases of breast cancer.

Comparative study of Her-2, p53, Ki-67 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer in a cohort of northern China female patients

The objective was to study the relationship among Her-2, Ki-67, p53 expression and the clinicopathologic characteristics of breast cancer in the patients of northern China. Expression of Her-2, Ki-67, p53 and clinical characteristics of 260 breast cancer patients were retrospectively studied. Her-2 overexpression led to higher incidence rates of infiltrating ductal carcinoma and axillary lymph node metastasis, bigger diameters of the primary tumors, later pTNM staging, and a lower incidence rate of ductal carcinoma in situ (p < 0.05). High expression of ER and PR led to fewer patients classified histologically in higher grade (p = 0.001), while high expression of Ki-67 and p53 caused more patients classified histologically in higher grade (p = 0.001). In patients histologically classified in grade 1 and 2, the expression of Ki-67 and p53 was significantly (p = 0.001) higher, and the expression of ER and PR was significantly lower, in Her-2 positive patients than Her-2 negative patients. Breast cancer with Her-2 overexpression was more likely to recur and metastasize than Her-2 negative breast cancer. Higher coincidence of high expression of p53 and Ki-67 with Her-2 overexpression and more progressed tumors suggested that in addition to p53, Ki-67 might also be a prognostic biomarker of breast cancer.

Is There any Concordance between of IHC with FISH in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients?

Background: In developed or developing countries, the most common cancer in women is breast cancer with a pick in 40-50 years in Asia. Herein, we compared the association between IHC with FISH in HER2-positive breast cancer patients and affection of trastuzumab on disease free survival and overall survival (OS). Subjects and Methods: Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of hormone receptors and HER2 was performed in 133 patients with breast cancer between 2003 and 2014. Patients were selected for Herceptin adjuvant treatment, according to IHC 3+ or FISH+. The specimens for pathology reports were fixed at 10% neutral-buffered formalin (pH=7.4) for 24 hours, then sliced into 4 μm sections. Results: The mean age of patients at diagnosis was 46.39 years (range, 24-78 years), 100% female. Concordance rates between IHC and FISH were 31.1% for IHC 2+ and 84.1% for IHC 3+ (p<0.001). The 87 patients had age ≤50 years and 46 patients had >50 years. Of the 133 patients, 30 patients (22.6%) had metastasis and 72 (54.1%) had right involvement. Ninety three (69.9%) patients had lymph node invasion. 48 patients (36.1%) were treated with trastuzumab and 85 (63.9%) were treated without trsastuzumab. The 10-year survival rate was 70% and the mean survival was 49 months. Conclusion: We recommend clinicians that FISH analysis is as a predictor in breast cancer patients with IHC score 2+. In contrast, FISH analysis of IHC 3+ samples was no useful. Trastuzumab therapy is effective and tolerated for breast cancer with IHC 3+ and probably IHC 2+/FISH+.