CORRELATION OF PROGNOSTIC FACTORS OF CARCINOMA BREAST WITH Ki 67 PROLIFERATION ASSAY

Abstract

Background: Prognostic factors are important for the diagnosis of breast cancer as it helps in identification of high risk patients. The objective of the study is to assess the proliferation index, Ki-67 and correlate it with other markers. Methods: This study is conducted at Department of General Surgery, R.L. Jalappa Hospital, Kolar on a cohort of patients admitted with biopsy-proven diagnosis of carcinoma of breast from the period of Dec 2019 to June 2021. All the patients meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria are recruited sequentially by convenient sampling until the sample size is attained, with the agreement of the institutional ethics committee. Results: A total of 98 patients with a mean age of 53.61 ± 12.48 years were studied in the final analysis. The mean duration of lump was 4.62 ± 2.18 months and only 6.12% had the complaint of pain. Majority of them had stage IIIB carcinoma at 43.88%, followed by stage IIA at 27.55%, 15.31% stage IIB, 13.27% stage IIIA. At cut off 20 , 69(70.40%) had ki67 proliferation index ≥20 and 29(29.59%) had<20. Correlation of Ki-67 Index with expression of estrogen receptor status had a p value of 0.019 and with progesterone receptor status, p 0.003 which was significant. Conclusions: In the age group of 31 to 60 years, majority of them had ≥20 Ki-67 but age showed no significant association with Ki-67. Duration of lump, menstrual history, physical characteristics of the effected breast, physical characteristics of the lump, size of the lump, stage and lymph node status had no significant association with the Ki-67 expression. While the estrogen receptor expression had significant association with Ki-67 with p value 0.019, the expression of progesterone receptor showed a significant correlation with Ki-67 with p 0.003. xiii Based on Chi square test, our study demonstrated a significant association between expression of estrogen and progesterone receptor and Ki-67. Keywords: Ki-67, Breast carcinoma, Cell proliferation, Immunohistochemistry, Hormone receptor status