Hormonal receptor status and lymph nodes involvement in breast cancer: a retrospective study

Abstract

Hormonal status and lymphatic invasion are two important prognostic factors among cases of breast cancer. This study aims to assess and evaluate the hormonal receptor status and lymph node involvement among female breast cancer patients in Duhok city, Kurdistan region, Iraq. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 156 diagnosed cases of breast cancer who had undergone surgical treatment and laboratory investigations at Azadi Teaching Hospital and Duhok Private Hospital for 30 months. Hormonal status (ER, PR, HER2 enriched, and Ki67), luminal staging, and lymphatic invasions were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified accounted for 87.8% of the total sample, with Luminal A being the most common form (42.31%), followed by Luminal B (37.17%). The prevalence of hormonal status among cases of breast cancer with lymphatic invasion was ER 42.5%, PR 41.2%, HER2 enriched 21.01%, and Ki67 36.8%; however, these differences were not statistically significant (P values: 0.586, 0.65, 0.253, and 0.469, respectively). In conclusion, invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common histological type of breast cancer, and the most frequent biological form is Luminal A. A significant number of breast cancer cases with positive lymphatic invasion show positive hormonal receptor levels; however, the number of lymphatic invasions is not correlated with the type of hormonal receptor positivity.