Abstract
Objective : The correlation between human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein expression and HER2 gene amplification with cellular atypism in fine needle aspirates of invasive breast cancer was examined.
Study Design : Fine needle aspirates from 50 cases of invasive breast cancer were stained by the Papanicolaou method and evaluated for the following 11 items ; 1) necrosis, 2) cellular size, 3) nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, 4) nuclear margin, 5) nucleolar size, 6) nucleolar appearance, 7) nuclear size, 8) nuclear pleomorphism, 9) granularity of chromatin, 10) density of chromatin and 11) mitotic index.
Results : There was no relationship between HER2 protein expression and cellular atypism. There was also no relationship between HER2 gene amplification and cellular atypism, except for “necrosis”.
Conclusion : In invasive breast cancer, the presence of “necrosis” in fine needle aspirates may suggest HER2 gene amplification, and this finding may be useful for preoperative prognostic assessment and prediction of the therapeutic effects.
