Triple Negative Breast Cancer at the Jos University Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. The treatment of breast cancer has drifted from radical mastectomy, to conservative treatment owing to the presence of micro metastasis at even earlier stages of the disease. These novel medical treatments are hinged on characterizing breast cancer at the molecular level. Estrogen receptor (ER), Progesterone receptor (PR), and Human epidermal growth factor 2 receptor (HER2) are the commonest molecular-markers used. Failure to stain for these three receptors, earns a breast cancer the triple negative designation, an aggressive type of the disease with the worst prognosis. Materials and Methods: All histologically confirmed cases of breast cancer at Jos University Teaching Hospital, between 2010 and 2012, were retrieved, and their histological type and grade documented. Using the Avidin-biotin method, the status of each case was established for ER, PR, and HER2. Cases with negative staining for these three antibodies were further stained with CK5/6, a basal biomarker for Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). Statistical softwares were used to analyse the data and present in tables. Results: Sixty-three cases of female breast cancers met the inclusion criteria. The age range was 28-74 years with mean age of 46.7+11.1 years. Invasive carcinoma (no special type) was the majority of histological type of breast cancer, accounting for 54(85.7%) cases. Histological grades 1, 2 and 3, recorded 18(28.6%), 29(46.0%), and 16(25.4%), cases respectively. TNBC accounted for 26 (41.3%) cases. Fifteen (57.7%) cases of TNBC stained positively for CK 5/6. Conclusion: Indicators of worse prognosis which includes lower hormone receptor status and high percentage of TNBC, as well as greater number of basal subtype of TNBC was exhibited by the study population.