Utility of evaluation of P53 and BRCA1 in invasive breast cancers: An immunohistochemical study

Introduction: Even with the advent of effective treatment strategies for breast cancer, the prognostication and treatment of each case varies owing to the varied expression of different prognostic markers. Aims and Objectives: In this study, there has been an attempt to study the immunohistochemical expression of p53 and BRCA1 proteins in invasive breast cancers and to find the correlation if any, between the expressions of p53 and BRCA1 with various prognostic factors like histological grading, the hormone receptors and Her-2/neu status. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Pathology at S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack. Fifty histologically proven cases of invasive carcinoma of were included in the study. Results: P53 positivity was seen in 40% of cases in our study while BRCA1 expression was observed in 48% of the total cases. P53 positivity was found to be associated with higher histologic grades (p value =0.05), Her-2/neu [removed]p value = 0.0005) and negative hormone receptors (p value = 0.0046). BRCA1 positivity was well associated with positive hormone receptors (p value = 0.03).The absence of BRCA1 staining was mostly seen in tumours of large sizes (p value = 0.01) and higher histologic grades (p value = 0.04). No significant association was seen between the expressions of BRCA1 and HER-2/neu. Conclusion: Immunohistochemical staining of P53 can be used as a prognostic indicator in cases of invasive breast carcinoma. The immunohistochemical detection of BRCA1 may be used to generate a larger pathologic picture of breast cancers in conjunction with the traditional prognostic parameters.