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Objective: To assess the frequency of different molecular subcategories of breast cancer and establish correlations with clinical and pathological features at a tertiary care center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at CMH, Peshawar, Pakistan (a tertiary care center of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, serving as a referral center for Bannu, Mardan, Nowshera, Risalpur, Landikotal, and Kohat city) from January 2021 to December 2022. Non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used to collect breast cancer samples i.e., biopsies, lumpectomies, and mastectomies of 161 cases. Immunohistochemistry was applied to all cases using polyclonal antibodies for ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 stains by DAKO envision method. All the cases were classified into four molecular subtypes of breast carcinoma (Luminal A, Luminal B, Her2 enriched, and triple-negative) according to the 2011 St Gallen consensus report. Results: In this study, 161 patients were enrolled, with a mean age of 51.20±13.20 yrs (range: 22 to 75 yrs). The distribution of molecular subtypes revealed Luminal A as the most prevalent (29.9%), followed by Luminal B (26.7%), Her2 enriched (25.5%), and Triple negative (18.0%). Luminal A subtype predominantly affected individuals aged 31-50 yrs and 51-70 yrs, while Luminal B was more common in the 51-70 yr age group. Her2 enriched subtype was prevalent among the elderly, whereas the Triple-negative subtype impacted younger individuals. Invasive ductal carcinoma was notably the most frequent subtype among Luminal A and Luminal B cases. Conclusion: Our study found that the Luminal A subtype occurred in 48 cases (29.9%), followed by Luminal B with 43 cases (26.7%). We identified a notable association between increasing age and breast cancer incidence in this study. Keywords: Breast cancer, Histological characteristics, Molecular classification, Treatment strategies
Khan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.