Potential use of image analysis for the evaluation of cellular predicting factors for therapeutic response in breast cancers

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the current literature on the association between biologic prognostic factors and therapeutic implications. STUDY DESIGN: To illustrate how these biologic factors are determined and how they can affect treatment, three patients' biologic profiles and their implications for the patients' choice of therapeutic approaches were analyzed. Immunohistochemical techniques combined with image analysis was used to evaluate estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, proliferation index and erbB-2. Visual assessment was used to evaluate P glycoprotein (MDR1), EGFR and p53. RESULTS: Data from the literature stress the importance of biologic profiles for defining tumor behavior and patient management. The examples of patients' biologic factors illustrated the possible importance of these factors for helping to design treatment. CONCLUSION: Today the data on the association of patient response to chemotherapy and molecular markers are only starting to accumulate. A larger database is needed for a more precise estimation of response probability in order to help physicians decide between treatment options.