Is grade 2 breast cancer a single homogeneous intermediate group

Background: Grade 2 breast cancer constitutes the majority of breast cancers. Unlike grades 1 and 3 the outcome and treatment management of these patients is very challenging. Some efforts have been made to classify grade 2 breast cancers into low and high subgroups. In this study we have evaluated the possibility of dividing grade 2 breast carcinomas into two low and high proliferative subgroups by Ki67 index and have also compared their outcomes. Methods: In this study the proliferation rate of 92 grade 2 breast carcinomas were immunohistochemically evaluated on tissue sections stained with Ki67 antibody. Results: By using a 10% cut off point, 44.6% of the grade 2 breast cancers were classified into low proliferative and 55.4% into high proliferative subgroups. Survival analysis showed statistically significant difference in survival between the two subgroups (p<0.04). Conclusion: Our results revealed that grade 2 breast cancer is not an intermediate group but is rather a combination of features of low and high proliferative groups. Ki67 index is an available tool which can help in predicting the outcome of grade 2 breast cancer.

کلیدواژه ها:

Breast cancer ، grade 2 ، Ki67