The Pathology of Familial Breast Cancer: Predictive Value of Immunohistochemical Markers Estrogen Receptor, Progesterone Receptor, HER-2, and p53 in Patients With Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2

Samples of breast cancers obtained from the International Breast Cancer Linkage Consortium were characterized morphologically and immunohistochemically using antibodies to estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER-2 (c-erbB-2 oncogene), and p53 protein.

Breast cancers in patients with BRCA1 germline mutations are more often negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER-2, and are more likely to be positive for p53 protein compared with controls. In contrast, BRCA2 tumors do not show a significant difference in the expression of any of these proteins compared with controls.