Department of Biology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918, USA.
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Oct;20(10):1543-50. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2010.2558. Epub 2011 Jul 1.
Hispanic women are at a lower risk of getting breast cancer than non-Hispanic white (NHW) women, yet they experience a higher risk of mortality after diagnosis. There is some evidence to suggest differences in tumor pathology; however, very limited research has been published on Hispanic women. This represents one of the first studies to evaluate the prevalence of tumor markers and phenotypic subtypes that are associated with poorer prognosis (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2], triple negative and basal-like tumors) among Hispanic women.
We reviewed pathology reports, obtained paraffin blocks of breast cancer tissue, and established tissue microarrays from NHW (n=119) and Hispanic women (n=69) who were Colorado participants in the 4-Corners Breast Cancer Study. We evaluated ethnic differences in the prevalence of tumor markers and phenotypic subtypes and assessed the contribution of risk factors in explaining the observed differences.
Consistent with other studies, Hispanic women had a higher prevalence of estrogen receptor-negative tumors compared with NHWs (36.2% vs. 22.7%, p=0.05). Hispanics also had an unexpectedly higher proportion of HER2-positive tumors compared with NHWs (31.9% vs. 14.3%, p<0.01). Independent of other prognostic factors, Hispanics were 2.8 times more likely to have a HER2-positive tumor (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98-7.86). Hispanics were less likely to have the more favorable luminal A subtype, but no significant differences were observed for the less favorable basal-like or triple negative subtypes. However, there were suggestive differences when considering menopausal status.
These findings provide evidence that breast cancers among Hispanic women comprise a distinct spectrum of tumor subtypes when compared with NHW women.
与非西班牙裔白人（NHW）女性相比，西班牙裔女性罹患乳腺癌的风险较低，但她们在确诊后死亡的风险更高。有一些证据表明肿瘤病理学存在差异；然而，针对西班牙裔女性的研究非常有限。这是首次评估与预后较差相关的肿瘤标志物和表型亚型（人表皮生长因子受体 2 [HER2]、三阴性和基底样肿瘤）在西班牙裔女性中的患病率的研究之一。
我们回顾了病理学报告，获得了科罗拉多州 4 角乳腺癌研究的 NHW（n=119）和西班牙裔女性（n=69）的乳腺癌组织石蜡块，并建立了组织微阵列。我们评估了肿瘤标志物和表型亚型在西班牙裔和 NHW 女性中的患病率差异，并评估了危险因素对观察到的差异的贡献。
与其他研究一致，与 NHW 相比，西班牙裔女性雌激素受体阴性肿瘤的患病率更高（36.2% vs. 22.7%，p=0.05）。西班牙裔女性 HER2 阳性肿瘤的比例也出乎意料地高于 NHW（31.9% vs. 14.3%，p<0.01）。独立于其他预后因素，西班牙裔女性发生 HER2 阳性肿瘤的可能性是 NHW 的 2.8 倍（95%置信区间 [CI] 0.98-7.86）。西班牙裔女性更不可能具有更有利的 luminal A 亚型，但基底样或三阴性亚型的情况则没有明显差异。然而，考虑到绝经状态时，存在提示性差异。
这些发现提供了证据，表明与 NHW 女性相比，西班牙裔女性的乳腺癌包含了独特的肿瘤亚型谱。
