Prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

The expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was studied in relation to the histological type of invasive ductal carcinoma. The expression of c-erbB-2 was found in 26 (17.6%) of 148 cases, and was a significant prognostic indicator in patients with lymph node metastasis, but not in those without. The patients were divided into a scirrhous group and a non-scirrhous group on the basis of histological type. There was no significant difference between the two groups in age, clinical stage, lymph node status, estrogen receptor status, operation method or c-erbB-2 expression. The expression of c-erbB-2 was a significant prognostic indicator in the scirrhous group, irrespective of lymph node metastasis, but not in the non-scirrhous group. We conclude that the prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 expression differs among histological types of invasive ductal carcinoma, and that c-erbB-2 expression is a prognostic indicator in patients with scirrhous carcinoma.