Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42834705›Full record

ArticleCancer medicine2026

Automated mRNA-Based Detection of ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 in Breast Cancer Tissue and Cytology Samples in Resource-Limited Settings.

Partha Basu, Anuradha Talukdar, Poulome Mukherjee, Richard Muwonge, Eric Lucas, Monoj Kumar Deka, Amanjit Bal, Upasana Gautam, Manish Rohilla, Baneet Bansal and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Partha BasuEarly Detection, Prevention & Infections Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0124-4050
Anuradha TalukdarCachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9007-9630
Poulome MukherjeeCachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar, India.
Richard MuwongeEarly Detection, Prevention & Infections Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
Eric LucasEarly Detection, Prevention & Infections Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1252-1925
Monoj Kumar DekaCachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar, India.
Amanjit BalDepartment of Histopathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Upasana GautamDepartment of Cytology & Gynaecological Pathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Manish RohillaDepartment of Cytology & Gynaecological Pathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3551-2060
Baneet BansalDepartment of Cytology & Gynaecological Pathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Veenu SinglaDepartment of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7351-4964
Siddhant KhareDepartment of General Surgery, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9142-1115
Andre Lopes CarvalhoEarly Detection, Prevention & Infections Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7214-6402
Anita GadgilCachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9276-6649
Ravi KannanCachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar, India.
Radhika SrinivasanDepartment of Cytology & Gynaecological Pathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1771-091X

Funding

Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccurate detection of estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR), HER2, and Ki-67 is essential for molecular classification of breast cancer and in deciding upon tailored treatment. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), access to histopathology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) is limited. STRAT4, an automated RT-qPCR assay performed on the widely available GeneXpert platform, offers a potential alternative. We evaluated the performance of STRAT4 on core biopsy, unstained smear of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB-US), and cellblock samples compared with conventional IHC in 178 histopathology-confirmed breast cancer patients.

methodsMatched core biopsy, cellblock, and FNAB-US samples were analyzed using STRAT4. Concordance with IHC for ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 was assessed using percentage agreement and kappa statistics. The effect of alternative dC

resultsConcordance between STRAT4 and IHC was high for ER across all sample types (κ: 0.78-0.86). PR detection showed substantial agreement for core biopsies (κ = 0.78) and cellblocks (κ = 0.63), but only fair for FNAB-US samples (κ = 0.53). HER2 detection showed moderate agreement (κ = 0.41-0.58), improving with modified cut-offs (κ = 0.57-0.66), especially for FNAB-US. Ki-67 concordance was low (agreement 58.9%-71.0%). Kappa values indicating agreement between molecular subtype classifications using STRAT4 on various samples and routine IHC were as follows: core biopsies = 0.60; cellblocks = 0.61; FNAB-US samples = 0.45.

conclusionDetection of ER from FNAB-US, cellblocks, and core biopsies using STRAT4 showed high concordance with IHC. However, the concordance was low to moderate for other markers.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesKi-67 AntigenReceptors, EstrogenReceptors, ProgesteroneRNA, MessengerAdultBiomarkers, TumorBiopsy, Fine-NeedleBiopsy, Large-Core NeedleFemaleHumansImmunohistochemistryMiddle AgedResource-Limited SettingsBiomarkers, TumorERBB2 protein, humanErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesKi-67 AntigenReceptors, EstrogenReceptors, ProgesteroneRNA, Messengerbiomarkersbreast cancerfine needle aspiration biopsyimmunohistochemistrylow‐ and middle‐income countriesmRNA detection

Identifiers

PMID42834705
PMCPMC13639388

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.