Her-2/neu overexpression in breast cancers in patients of West African extraction seen in Lagos state University Teaching hospital, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Her-2/neu is one of the most important molecular markers of breast cancer. Overexpression of Her-2/neu as evaluated by immunohistochemistry is necessary in the management of breast cancers. This study was performed to determine the proportion of expression of the biomarker amongst breast cancer patients who presented in our 'one-stop breast cancer unit' using automated immunohistochemistry. Materials and methods: Automated immunohistochemical analysis of 107 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients was done for expression of Her-2/neu, between 1st April, 2016 and 30th September, 2018. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 25 for windows and Microsoft excel, 2013. Results: Her-2/neu was overexpressed in 30.1% patients, and it shows no correlation with age and histological grade of the disease. Conclusion: There is overexpression of Her-2/neu in our local setting, and this observation is very relevant to any therapeutic decisions and management of these patients.