Background: Carcinoma of the breast is a heterogeneous disease & the most common malignancy in women. The type of carcinoma determined by the involvement of specific cells in the breast that are affected. In Situ breast cancer starts in ductal & lobular epithelium having no penetration beyond the basement membrane. Invasive or infiltrating breast cancer goes beyond the basement membrane & infiltrate surrounding breast tissue.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the subtype of breast carcinoma by immune-histochemical analysis.

Materials & Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of surgical oncology, in a tertiary cancer hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from March 2015 to April 2016. 121 admitted patients were finalized for the study. Immuno-histochemical staining was performed to classify the subtypes of breast carcinoma.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 42.85(±9.6). Out of 121 patients, 98.34% were breast lump, 27.27% nipple discharge and 52% were upper outer quadrant lump. Among the total patients, Luminal A type was highest 38(31.4%), TNBC 37(30.54%), HER2 was 26(21.48%), Luminal B type was 16(13.22%) and 4(3.3%) as others. According to the molecular classification, well-differentiated tumors, Luminal A, Luminal B, TNBC, HER2, and other observed in 7, 3, 11, 4 and 0 cases and in moderately differentiated tumors Luminal A, Luminal B, TNBC, Her2, and others were observed in 28, 9, 6, 3, and 0 cases. In poorly differentiated tumors Luminal A, Luminal B, TNBC, Her2, and others observed in 3, 4, 20, 19, and 4 cases.

Conclusion: The most common tumor subtype is the Luminal A tumors, followed by triple-negative tumors. Luminal A and triple-negative tumors were found to be linked with increased frequency of lobular carcinomas. The HER2-positive and triple-negative tumors were associated with an increased frequency of large tumor size and poorly differentiated carcinomas as well as a more aggressive manifestation of cancer.

Keywords: Molecular sub-type, Immuno-histochemistry (IHC), breastcarcinoma (BC).

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Dr Md. Rassell

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh