Ancillary Techniques

摘要

Since Elwood V, Jensen's discovery in 1958 that estrogen receptors play a key role in the growth and survival of most breast cancers and the evidence that hormonal therapies could dramatically alter the history of patients, the diagnosis of cancer has been more and more associated with a series of additional information on prognostic and predictive factors. After that, between the 1990s and early 2000, a second sensational discovery brought another great change in the treatment and prognosis of breast cancer patients, since those with amplification of the human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene, once burdened with a poor prognosis, could benefit from a targeted therapy, which sensibly improved their survival. Currently, the accurate assessment of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2 status is essential and mandatory in all breast carcinomas [Allred, 2010].