IHC markers are used in both clinical and research settings to provide insights into a variety of processes that are of interest to breast cancer and disease research at large.
Breast cancer, the most common malignancy in women worldwide, is classified by using microscopic morphologic criteria along with standard clinical immunohistochemistry markers
for
HER2 and
ER/
PR
in order to predict if a patient’s tumor will respond to Herceptin or hormone therapy. IHC is further useful for determining rates of cell differentiation, elucidating molecular pathways, and
highlighting the proteomics of tumor growth and metastatic potential. For example, IHC markers help distinguish in-situ from invasive carcinomas (
KRT14
and
KRT5), subtype ductal from lobular carcinomas (
E-cadherin,
p120,
FOXA1,
GATA3),
determine mammary origin of a metastatic carcinoma (
CK7,
CK20,
Mammaglobin A), and highlight tumor proliferation and apoptosis (
Ki-67,
BCL2,
TP53). Furthermore, the myoepithelial markers
SMA (Smooth Muscle Actin),
Calponin,
p63 and
SMMHC can be used to determine whether or not a cancer has invaded, since
benign and early lesions have an intact myoepithelial layer surrounding breast glands.
IHC markers can be used to identify the deregulation or pathogenic activation of various cell-cycle pathways in breast cancer. These include
BCL2,
an anti-apoptotic protein which promotes
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