Abstract Background: Breast carcinoma is one of the leading causes of malignancy in females.Assessment of Estrogen Receptors (ER)/ Progesterone receptors (PR) and HER2/neu expression in breast cancer is mandatory in clinicalpractice. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for assessing hormonal receptor status is easier, safer, and hasbetter ability to predict response to adjuvant endocrine therapy. HER2/neu overexpression is shown to have important prognostic and predictive value. The best approach to the use of immunohistochemical markers is to couple them with standard Haematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) based histology and to use panel of markers. Objectives: To assess the ER, PR & HER2/neu status and correlate with histological grade and other clinicopathological parameters. Materials and methods: Fifty cases of breast carcinoma were taken forthe study. H&E sections diagnosed as carcinoma were assessed for histological type and grade. One dedicated block from tumour, not fixed for more than 24 hours in 10% formalin was used for ER/PR and HER2/neu receptor evaluation by IHC. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS software, using chisquare test. Results: A Total of 50 carcinoma breast cases were subjected to IHC. Twenty four cases (48.0%) were of histologic grade-II, 17 cases (34%) of grade III and nine cases (18%) were of grade I. ER, PR and HER2/neu status correlated significantly with histological grade. (p= 0.003). Conclusion: ER, PR & HER2/neu status correlates well with histopathological grading. Hence, immunohistochemical analysis should be incorporated in the routine histopathology reports and canbe of great value in deciding the treatment protocols.
Keywords: Breast Carcinoma; Immunohistochemistry; Er; Pr; Her2/ Neu; Histopathological Grading.