Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan-Mar;62(1):269-278.
doi: 10.47162/RJME.62.1.28.

Analysis of breast cancer subtypes and their correlations with receptors and ultrasound

Gabriela Sechel  1 , Liliana Marcela Rogozea, Nadinne Alexandra Roman, Daniel Ciurescu, Maria Elena Cocuz, Rosana Mihaela Manea
Affiliations

Analysis of breast cancer subtypes and their correlations with receptors and ultrasound

Gabriela Sechel et al. Rom J Morphol Embryol. 2021 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

The study aim was to evaluate the ultrasound (US) signs of the mammary lesions classified in the Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) score category 3, 4, and 5, corresponding to US BI-RADS. It also followed the correlation between US changes of lesions suggestive for malignancy with the histopathological results and evaluated the proper management of those lesions. There were correlations of breast cancer (BC) subtypes with the receptors [estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)], and Ki67 index, and the signs of conventional ultrasonography and US elastography. We selected 108 female patients examined with US, mammography and fine-needle biopsy who presented suspicions for malignancy lesions. Following the immunohistochemical analysis, they were classified in one of the BC subtypes. According to chi-squared analysis of molecular cancer subtypes correlation to receptors and Ki67 index, we found significant associations between both luminal A and luminal B HER2-negative subtypes and hormone receptors (ER, PR). These have an inverse relationship with Ki67 index elevated values; luminal B HER2-positive subtype has a direct association with HER2 presence; HER2-enriched subtype was statistically significant associated to HER2 presence and elevated Ki67 index values but had an inverse relationship to hormone receptors (ER, PR); triple-negative subtype was strongly associated to Ki67 index values and inversely correlated to ER and PR. We found luminal A subtype as being the most common and luminal B HER2-positive subtype as having the fewer cases.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of cases by age categories
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of breast cancer patients by immunohistopathological subtype
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ultrasound examination of a 78-year-old patient, right breast, upper and external quadrant: hypoechoic lesion, irregular, with microlobulations (A), and increased vascular signal (B), increased elastographic value – strain ratio 5.8 (C), axillary pathological adenopathy (D). Anatomopathological characteristics: invasive breast carcinoma; ER-positive 80%; PR-positive 60–70%; HER2-negative (score 0); Ki67 index 10%; luminal A subtype. ER: Estrogen receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; PR: Progesterone receptor
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ultrasound examination of a 65-year-old patient, left breast, upper and outer quadrant: hypoechoic lesion, irregular mass, echogenic rim (A), increased vascular signal, focal microcalcifications (B), increased elastography value – strain ratio 2.70 (C). Anatomopathological characteristics: ER-negative; PR-negative; HER2-positive (score 2+); Ki67 index 60–70%; HER2-enriched subtype. ER: Estrogen receptor; HER2: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; PR: Progesterone receptor
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Formenti SC, Arslan AA, Love SM. Global breast cancer: the lessons to bring home. Int J Breast Cancer. 2012;2012:249501–249501. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bangal VB, Shinde KK, Gavhane SP, Singh RK. Breast carcinoma in women - a rising threat. Int J Biomed Adv Res. 2013;4(2):73–76.
    1. Wen X, Yu Y, Yu X, Cheng W, Wang Z, Liu L, Zhang L, Qin L, Tian J. Correlations between ultrasonographic findings of invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast and intrinsic subtypes. Ultraschall Med. 2019;40(6):764–770. - PubMed
    1. Sigrist RMS, Liau J, El Kaffas A, Chammas MC, Willmann JK. Ultrasound elastography: review of techniques and clinical applications. Theranostics. 2017;7(5):1303–1329. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gheonea IA, Donoiu L, Camen D, Popescu FC, Bondari S. Sonoelastography of breast lesions: a prospective study of 215 cases with histopathological correlation. Rom J Morphol Embryol. 2011;52(4):1209–1214. - PubMed