Epidemiological profile and distribution of prognostic factors in invasive breast cancer among Algerian women

Abstract

Although the widespread of early screening and advanced medical therapies, the breast cancer incidence rate continues to rise among Algerian women. This retrospective study investigated mammary lesions’ epidemiological profile and histopathological characteristics and evaluated primary invasive breast cancer prognostic factors. We found that the incidence of breast cancer increases in middle- aged women between 40 and 60 years. Scarff Bloom Richardson grade II predominates in invasive breast cancer samples. In this study, molecular profiling shows that 82.1% of invasive tumours are hormone receptor-positive. A significant correlation is observed between the age of the patient and the SBR grade (p = 0.001) and with the hormone receptor expression (p = 0.001). In addition, the tumour grade is significantly correlated to oestrogen and progesterone receptor expression (p = 0.000; p = 0.000, respectively). Twenty-two per cent of cases were human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive. The Ki-67 proliferation index is expressed in 91% of breast cancer patients and was significantly associated with Scarff Bloom Richardson grade (p = 0.030), the progesterone receptor expression (p = 0.029) and with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positivity (p = 0.023). Primary breast cancer with a high grade is more frequent (31%) in young women under 40 years old, presenting 17% of our population. In summary, breast cancer patients in Algeria develop an unfavourable profile. Immunohistochemistry assay has played a pivotal role in assessing breast cancer predictive biomarkers improving the tumour behaviour and response to treatment.