Abstract:Objective:To evaluate the correlation between mammographic calcifications and HER-2/neu overexpression in breast carcinomas (BC) and its clinical significance.
Methods :A retrospective study of preoperative mammograms in patients with breast carcinoma, and immunohistochemical staining of excised tumor specimens was carried out by using monoclonal antibody against HER-2/neu in 152 patients with BC to evaluate the correlation of mammographic calcifications with HER-2/neu overexpression.
Results:There was a significant correlation between mammographic calcifications and HER-2/neu overexpression (P＜0.01). In the 73 cases of carcinoma with calcifications on mammography, HER-2/neu overexpression was statistically higher in calcifications associated spiculated mass than in simple calcifications (P＜0.05). According to morphologic aspects of calcifications, vermicular calcifications were more common in carcinomas with HER-2/neu overexpression than in those without HER-2/neu overexpression (P=0.01). The carcinomas with calcifications ≥25 mm in diameter were much more commonly associated with HER-2/neu overexpression (P＜0.05), whereas the number of calcifications less than 20/cm2 was more common in HER-2/neu negative expression (P＜0.01).
Conclusions:Mammographic calcifications are significantly correlated with HER-2/neu overexpression and may offer reference for planning a therapeutic stategy and predicting prognosis of breast cancer.