BackgroundThis study was carried out to evaluate the prognostic value of KIBRA in breast cancer.MethodsThis retrospective study included breast cancer patients who sought the services of the immunohistochemistry laboratory of our unit from 2006 to 2015. Tissue microarrays were constructed and immunohistochemical staining was done to assess the KIBRA expression. The Kaplan-Meier model for univariate and Cox-regression model with backward stepwise factor retention method for multivariate analyses were used. Chi square test was used to find out the associations with the established prognostic features.ResultsA total of 1124 patients were included in the study and KIBRA staining of 909 breast cancers were available for analysis. Cytoplasmic KIBRA expression was seen in 39.5% and nuclear expression in 44.8%. Overall KIBRA–low breast cancers accounted for 41.5%. KIBRA nuclear expression was significantly associated with positive ER and PR expression. Luminal breast cancer patients who had endocrine therapy and KIBRA-low expression had a RFS disadvantage over those who were positive for KIBRA (p = 0.02). Similarly, patients who received chemotherapy and had overall KIBRA-low expression also demonstrated a RFS disadvantage compared to those who had overall positive KIBRA expression (p = 0.018). This effect of KIBRA was independent of the other factors considered for the model.ConclusionOverall low-KIBRA expression has an independent effect on the RFS and predicts the RFS outcome of luminal breast cancer patients who received endocrine therapy and breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy.

BackgroundCA15-3 is the most commonly used tumor marker in breast cancer. Its prognostic role has been described in the metastatic setting, but the role of pre-surgical CA15-3 in the assessment of patients with breast cancer without metastasis has not been substantiated yet.MethodologyFrom February 2014 for a 2-year period, this prospective study included all patients who were diagnosed with primary breast cancer and underwent surgery at a tertiary care hospital. The serum level of CA15-3 was assessed on a pre-surgical blood sample and later at the 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Disease-free survival (DFS) was analyzed with a Kaplan–Meier model and log-rank test.ResultsWe enrolled 195 patients (mean age ± SD 57.84 years ±13.819, range, 28–95) with breast cancer. The prevalence of elevated (≥30 U/mL) pre-surgical CA15-3 was 35.9%, and it reduced to 14.3% at 3 months after mastectomy. Pre-surgical CA15-3 had a significant association only with the size of the tumor (p=0.047). Patients who did not have elevated pre-surgical CA15-3 (≥30 U/mL) had the best short-term DFS, and it was worst when the pre-surgical CA15-3 was >100 U/mL (p=0.041).ConclusionElevated pre-surgical CA15-3 is a predictor of poor short-term DFS of patients with breast cancer without distant metastasis.

Aim:To study the prognostic value of immunohistochemically detected low Claudin3 expression in breast cancers.Methods:This retrospective study included patients with breast cancer who were investigated at our unit from 2006 to 2015. Tissue microarrays were constructed, and immunohistochemical staining was done to assess the Claudin3 expression and to classify breast cancers according to the immunohistochemical surrogates for molecular classification. Kaplan-Meier model and log-rank test were used for recurrence-free survival and breast cancer–specific survival analysis.Results:Of the 853 patients, overall low expression of Claudin3 was seen in 18.4%. Recurrence-free survival of patients with overall low Claudin3 breast cancers was poor in luminal A (P = .006) and luminal B (Her2−) (P = .009) subtypes compared with those who had Claudin3 expression in each group.Conclusions:Assessment of Claudin3 expression by immunohistochemistry is suggested for luminal A and luminal B (Her2−) subtypes to identify patients with poor prognosis.

Background: Breast cancer diagnosis has evolved over the past decades. Today, it is vital to classify breast cancers according to genetic expression. Immunohistochemical surrogates have been identified as a cost-effective routine method to address the genetic diversity of breast cancers.Aim: To describe the survival pattern of a cohort of breast cancer patients in the Sri Lankan setting, according to the molecular classification using IHC surrogates.Method: Breast cancer (BC) patients investigated in our laboratory from 2006-2015 were included. Tissue microarrays were constructed using their archived BC tissue. Immunohistochemical assessment of hormone receptors, Her2, Ki67, CK5/6 and EGFR were done. The Pearson chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier model and Cox-regression model were used for analysis. Results:The study cohort comprised 1122 patients. The complete molecular classification could be performed only for 939 patients with 27.