Differences in breast carcinoma characteristics in newly diagnosed African-American and Caucasian patients: A single-institution compilation compared with the National Cancer Institute SEER database

9670 Background: Invasive breast carcinomas diagnosed in African-American (AA) patients (pts) are described as more aggressive in characteristics as compared with those in Caucasian (C) patients. Methods: We compiled information from the NCI SEER database on stage, histologic grade, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) positivity of breast carcinomas diagnosed in 136,358 AA and C pts between 1990–2000, and compiled the same information, along with nuclear grade, Ki-67, c-erb-B2, p53, p21, and bcl-2 expression in 2,074 AA and C pts diagnosed and treated at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) between 1996–2002. In TJUH specimens, paraffin-embedded formalin-fixed tissue was stained with hematoxylin/eosin, and immunohistochemical markers were assayed using antibodies to the above proteins. Differences in expression were analyzed by Chi-squared tests. Results: At diagnosis, more AA pts presented with advanced stage (AS, III/IV) tumors in both databases, and were more likely to present ...