Abstract
In the 2022-2024 Globocan data, India alone contributed 15.5% (1.4 million) of the staggering 23.8% of breast carcinoma (BC) cases globally and in the lot 0.85 million people succumbed to the disease. BC remains a complex and multifaceted disease that poses a significant threat and is a public health concern. Region-specific molecular subtyping is required with the updating trends of the disease. The study was conducted retrospectively at the Central Reference Laboratory, inDNA Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from January 2021 to December 2023. A total of 301 BC patients were recruited in the study from multiple institutions in a consecutive manner across West-Bengal and Odisha. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism (version 8.3.0) software. The study included 294 (97.6%) women and 7 (2.3%) men. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) was the most common histopathologic type observed in 90.2% (n = 267) of patients. Majority of them were diagnosed in the 4th to 6th decade of their life (n = 173; 58.45%) with a mean age of 50.8 years. ER + expression was detected in 104 (35.1%) and PR + in 87 (29.4%) cases. HER-2/neu overexpression was observed in 89 (30.1%) cases. A striking 39.8% (n = 118) triple-negative or basal-like status was noted in the cohort. Immunohistochemistry-based classification remains the gold-standard method for sub-typing of BC. The study highlights alarming numbers of TNBC cases and is the most prevalent sub-group in the 40-60 years age-group of eastern-Indian BC cases in comparison with region-specific incidence. Additionally, concurrent use of HER2/neu FISH on equivocal cases revealed a HER2/neu positivity conversion rate of 28%. Apart from studying the routine histo-molecular attributes, BRCA-based genetic screening needs to be brought into the mainstream testing for all clinically diagnosed BC cases. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13193-025-02282-z.