Ki-67 and Histological Grade in Breast Cancer

AIMS: The aim of the study was to investigate the prognostic value of Ki-67 and histological grade in patients with estrogen receptor (ER) positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative early breast cancer. Although the proliferation activity of different tumors assessed with antigen Ki-67 was extensively studied in the last decade and showed that Ki67 expression was a useful prognostic factor in breast cancer, there is still a controversy about the utility value of Ki-67. METHODS: The retrospective study covered the period from 2016 to 2022. Year included 106 patients from Brcko District, with early estrogen-positive and HER2 receptors-negative breast cancer. The average patients’ age was 62.37 ± 11.65 years. Patients were divided into groups with high/low Ki-67 and high/low histological grade. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed for disease relapse and mortality. RESULTS: Patients with high Ki-67 were more frequent postmenopausal, had higher histological grade, cancer ˂2 cm, more frequent lymph nodes’ metastases, more frequently underwent to axillary surgery, and had a higher mortality rate. Patients with high histological grade were older, more frequent postmenopausal, had more frequent metastases to the lymph nodes, more frequent occurrence of high Ki-67, more frequent relapse of disease, and more frequent of death. CONCLUSION: Combination of high Ki-67 with high histological grade in ER positive and HER2-negative early breast cancer is an important prognostic factor.