Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?

Background: Immunohistochemical results are of vital importance in the classification of patients with breast cancer into subgroups and in treatment decision-making at every stage. However, differences can occur in biopsy results obtained from the same patient. In our study, we aimed to investigate...

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Main Author: Mustafa Ersoy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-08-01
Series:Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/11795549251367498
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author Mustafa Ersoy
author_facet Mustafa Ersoy
author_sort Mustafa Ersoy
collection DOAJ
description Background: Immunohistochemical results are of vital importance in the classification of patients with breast cancer into subgroups and in treatment decision-making at every stage. However, differences can occur in biopsy results obtained from the same patient. In our study, we aimed to investigate the importance of pathological examination, which is a possible reason for the differences in patients’ immunohistochemistry results. Methods: For this purpose, patients were divided into 3 groups. The differences in estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2, and Ki-67 were examined between the following groups: patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and then underwent surgery (41 patients), patients who underwent surgery without chemotherapy (50 patients), and the same specimen from a different center and our center (21 patients). Results: The pathological discordance rates were 34.1% in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, 28% in the surgery without chemotherapy group, and 38.1% in the comparison between our institution and an external center, with no statistically significant difference across the 3 groups ( P  = .667). When examining the changes within each group, statistically significant differences were found in HER2 ( P  = .002) for the tru-cut biopsy surgery group and Ki-67 ( P  = .025) for the group comparing our center to an external center. Conclusions: As a result, it was considered that one of the important reasons for the immunohistochemical differences in breast biopsies, which is a known fact, is the evaluating center and pathologist.
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spelling doaj-art-973e771fb69d41abbef74a6ae1f2ee742025-08-20T15:03:28ZengSAGE PublishingClinical Medicine Insights: Oncology1179-55492025-08-011910.1177/11795549251367498Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?Mustafa Ersoy0Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kütahya Health Sciences University, Kutahya, TurkeyBackground: Immunohistochemical results are of vital importance in the classification of patients with breast cancer into subgroups and in treatment decision-making at every stage. However, differences can occur in biopsy results obtained from the same patient. In our study, we aimed to investigate the importance of pathological examination, which is a possible reason for the differences in patients’ immunohistochemistry results. Methods: For this purpose, patients were divided into 3 groups. The differences in estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2, and Ki-67 were examined between the following groups: patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and then underwent surgery (41 patients), patients who underwent surgery without chemotherapy (50 patients), and the same specimen from a different center and our center (21 patients). Results: The pathological discordance rates were 34.1% in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group, 28% in the surgery without chemotherapy group, and 38.1% in the comparison between our institution and an external center, with no statistically significant difference across the 3 groups ( P  = .667). When examining the changes within each group, statistically significant differences were found in HER2 ( P  = .002) for the tru-cut biopsy surgery group and Ki-67 ( P  = .025) for the group comparing our center to an external center. Conclusions: As a result, it was considered that one of the important reasons for the immunohistochemical differences in breast biopsies, which is a known fact, is the evaluating center and pathologist.https://doi.org/10.1177/11795549251367498
spellingShingle Mustafa Ersoy
Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?
Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology
title Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?
title_full Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?
title_fullStr Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?
title_full_unstemmed Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?
title_short Discordance in Immunohistochemistry Results in Breast Pathologies: Effect of Chemotherapy, Specimen Characteristics, or Pathology Center?
title_sort discordance in immunohistochemistry results in breast pathologies effect of chemotherapy specimen characteristics or pathology center
url https://doi.org/10.1177/11795549251367498
work_keys_str_mv AT mustafaersoy discordanceinimmunohistochemistryresultsinbreastpathologieseffectofchemotherapyspecimencharacteristicsorpathologycenter