D2-40 A Helpful Marker in Assessment of Lymphatic Vessel Invasion in Carcinoma of BreastTumor characteristic Number of cases (percentage %)

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in Iranian women and worldwide. Lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) was found to be an independent prognostic factor in many carcinomas, including invasive carcinoma of the breast. The aim of this study was to compare the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining method and the use of the immunohistochemistry (IHC) marker, D2-40, for evaluating LVI in breast carcinoma specimens.

The study was conducted on 50 patients undergone surgery between the years 2010 and 2015 in Rohani Hospital, Babol, Iran with invasive carcinoma of the breast with Census sampling method. LVI was assessed using H&E staining and two IHC markers, i.e., D2-40 and CD31, by two surgical pathologists.  

LVI was detected in 25 (50%) patients by H&E and in 14 (28%) patients by D2-40. Twelve out of 25 patients with positive LVI in H&E were confirmed by D2-40 and 2 out of 25 patients with negative lymphatic vessel in H&E. Only one case showed weak staining of CD31 proving LVI. These results showed a significant difference between the H&E staining and D2-40 IHC study for LVI detection (p =0.004).

The D2-40 IHC marker is helpful in the diagnosis and confirmation of LVI in invasive carcinoma of the breast. CD31 is not suitable for the evaluation of lymphatic vessels.