Study of microvessel density in breast carcinoma with CD34 immunostaining – An institutional experience in Puducherry

Abstract

Abstract Background: Breast carcinoma is one of the most common neoplasms in women. It is most commonly seen in the age group of 30–90 years of age. The evaluation of microvessel density is one of the frequently used methods to quantify intratumoral angiogenesis in breast cancer. Methodology: Analytical cross-sectional study was done in the Department of Pathology, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital for 1½ years after getting ethics committee approval. All cases diagnosed with breast carcinoma in the Department of Pathology were included, and the sample size was 62. The study tools used were requisition form, Hematoxylin and Eosin, and immunohistochemistry CD34 staining in the excised specimen. Results: It was found the present study included 62 cases of modified radical mastectomy done for various grades and stages of breast carcinoma. The common age group in this study was found to be 40–60 years (40 cases). The most common quadrant involved by the tumor is the upper outer quadrant (31 cases). In this study, 48 cases (77.42%) had tumor size of 2–5 cm, 10 cases had tumor size of >5 cm and 4 cases had tumor size of <2 cm. The most common type of tumor seen in this study is invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) Not otherwise specified (NOS). The most common tumor grade present in this study is grade II tumors (38 cases). In this study, the correlation of histopathological grade with tumor size and microvessel density was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In this study, a higher mean microvascular density value is seen in Grade III tumor and the value decreased as the tumor grade decreases. In the future, antibodies specific to proliferating endothelium, together with the development of automated image analysis, may improve the accuracy and value of measuring angiogenesis-induced microvessel density. Then, these specific antibodies can be used in used in targeted therapies.