Pathological characteristics of BRCA-associated breast cancers in Hispanics

The immunophenotype of BRCA -associated breast cancer has been studied in predominantly non-Hispanic whites (NHW). We evaluated the pathological characteristics of BRCA -associated invasive breast cancer in Hispanics. A case–control study was conducted on breast cancers from Hispanic and NHW women who enrolled in an IRB-approved registry and underwent BRCA gene analysis. BRCA negative controls (41 Hispanic, 39 NHW) were matched on age and ethnicity to BRCA positive cases (39 Hispanic, 35 NHW). A tissue array was constructed to characterize the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2, Ki-67 and p53 by immunohistochemistry. Mean age at diagnosis was 37.1 years (range 24–59) for Hispanics (80% with Mexican ancestry) and 40.1 years (range 21–63) for NHW ( P = 0.03). Hispanic BRCA1 cases were more likely than BRCA negative controls to have tumors that were ER-negative ( P