These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Young investigator challenge: The utility of GATA3 immunohistochemistry in the evaluation of metastatic breast carcinomas in malignant effusions.
    Author: Lew M, Pang JC, Jing X, Fields KL, Roh MH.
    Journal: Cancer Cytopathol; 2015 Oct; 123(10):576-81. PubMed ID: 26465236.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: It is not uncommon to encounter challenges in the immunohistochemical confirmation of metastatic breast cancer given the limited sensitivities of mammaglobin and gross cystic disease fluid protein 15 (GCDFP-15/BRST-2) and the significant proportion of triple-negative breast carcinomas (ie, tumors that are negative for estrogen receptor [ER], and progesterone receptor [PgR], and human epidermal growth factor 2 [HER2]). GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) has emerged as a potentially useful immunohistochemical adjunct during the evaluation of metastatic breast carcinomas in cytology specimens. The objective of the current study was to examine GATA3 expression in the context of malignant effusions secondary to both mammary and extramammary malignancies. METHODS: In total, 306 malignant effusions (from 62 metastatic breast carcinomas and 244 extramammary malignancies) were examined using GATA3 immunohistochemistry. Effusions with metastatic breast carcinoma were also examined using immunohistochemistry for additional breast markers (ER, PgR, HER2, mammaglobin, and GCDFP-15/BRST-2). RESULTS: GATA3 immunohistochemistry highlighted the tumor cells in 58 of the 62 samples (93.5%) from patients with metastatic breast carcinoma, which was higher than the observed sensitivity of immunohistochemistry for ER (63.8%), PgR (41.4%), HER2 (15.5%), mammaglobin (22.4%), and GCDFP-15/BRST-2 (5.2%). GATA3 expression also was observed in a subset of malignant effusions secondary to extramammary primaries, specifically, in 28 of 244 specimens (11.5%). CONCLUSIONS: GATA3 is a highly sensitive marker for the detection of metastatic breast carcinomas in effusion specimens. However, this marker is not entirely specific for malignancies of breast origin. Thus, GATA3 should be used in conjunction with additional immunohistochemical markers during the cytologic evaluation of malignant effusions.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]