Preoperative assessment of proliferative activity and hormonal receptor status in carcinoma of the breast: A comparison of needle aspiration and needle-core biopsies to the surgical specimen

Abstract

The applicability and reliability of estimates of proliferative activity in breast carcinomas using fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and needle-core biopsies (NC) was evaluated in 98 breast carcinoma patients. The Ki-67, Estrogen receptor (ER), and progesteron receptor (PR) immunolabelling of FNA and NC was compared with that of the surgical specimen. A statistically significant consistency between labelling was found in the Ki-67-NC (κ = 0.474), ER-FNA (κ = 0.318), ER-NC (κ = 0.518), and PR-FNA (κ = 0.404) groups. The consistency in the Ki-67-FNA group was less significant (κ = 0.182), and there was no consistency in the PR-NC group (κ = 0.062). There was a positive correlation of Ki-67 labelling in FNA and NC biopsies (Spearman rank, ρ = 0.4; P= 0.0007), and also in ER labeling (Spearman rank ρ = 0.6; P = 0.0001). These results indicate that NC and FNA can be used for preoperative assessment of proliferative activity and hormonal status in the breast carcinoma.