| Literature DB >> 35384873 |
Monika D Polewski1, Gitte B Nielsen1, Ying Gu1, Aaron T Weaver1, Gavin Gegg1, Siena Tabuena-Frolli1, Mariana Cajaiba1, Debra Hanks1, Michael Method2, Michael F Press3, Claudia Gottstein1, Aaron M Gruver2.
Abstract
The objectives were to develop a standardized Ki-67 immunohistochemistry (IHC) method for precise, robust, and reproducible assessment of patients with early breast cancer, and utilize this assay to evaluate patients participating in the monarchE study (NCT03155997). The Ki-67 assay was developed and validated for sensitivity, specificity, repeatability, precision, and robustness using a predefined ≥20% cutoff. Reproducibility studies (intersite and intrasite, interobserver and intraobserver) were conducted at 3 external laboratories using detailed scoring instructions designed for monarchE. Using the assay, patient tumors were classified as displaying high (≥20%) or low (<20%) Ki-67 expression; Kaplan-Meier methods evaluated 2-year invasive disease-free survival rates for these 2 groups among patients treated with endocrine therapy (ET) alone. All analytical validation and reproducibility studies achieved point estimates of >90% for negative, positive, and overall percent agreement. Intersite reproducibility produced point estimate values of 94.7%, 100.0%, and 97.3%. External interobserver reproducibility produced point estimate values of 98.9%, 97.8%, and 98.3%. Among 1954 patients receiving ET alone, 986 (50.5%) had high and 968 (49.5%) had low Ki-67 expression. Patients with high Ki-67 had a clinically meaningful increased risk of developing invasive disease within 2 years compared with those with low Ki-67 [2-y invasive disease-free survival rate: 86.1% (95% confidence interval: 83.1%-88.7%) vs. 92.0% (95% confidence interval: 89.7%-93.9%), respectively]. This standardized Ki-67 methodology resulted in high concordance across multiple laboratories, and its use in the monarchE study prospectively demonstrated the prognostic value of Ki-67 IHC in HR+, HER2- early breast cancer with high-risk clinicopathologic features.Entities:
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Year: 2022 PMID: 35384873 PMCID: PMC8989635 DOI: 10.1097/PAI.0000000000001009
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol ISSN: 1533-4058
FIGURE 1Key objectives of this study were to develop a precise, robust, and reproducible assay paired with clear interpretation guidance to reduce ambiguities in scoring. Training was provided to pathologists from different laboratories, resulting in high concordance between labs. This created a foundation for testing tumor proliferation using Ki-67 IHC in the monarchE phase 3 clinical trial. IHC indicates immunohistochemistry.
Summary of Preanalytic, Analytic, and Postanalytic Factors Considered in Development of the Assay
| Setting | Factor | IUO Ki-67 IHC Assay Overview | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preanalytical | Biopsy type | Core biopsy or surgical resection specimens | |
| Time to fixation | ≤1 h | ||
| Fixation time and fixative | 6-72 h in 10% neutral buffered formalin | ||
| Paraffin embedding | Tissues were infiltrated with melted paraffin, at or below 60°C | ||
| Slide preparation | Tissue section of 4-5 µm were mounted on Dako FLEX IHC Microscope Slides or SuperFrost Plus slides | ||
| Specimens were oven-dried at 58±2°C | |||
| Cut slide storage | Specimens were stained within 5 mo of sectioning when stored in the dark at 2-8°C or within 4 mo of sectioning when stored in the dark at room temperature up to 25°C | ||
| Analytical | Staining instrument | Dako Omnis | |
| Antigen retrieval | EnVision FLEX Target Retrieval Solution, Low pH (Code GV805). pH of 1x solution 6.1±0.2. Antigen retrieval took place onboard the Dako Omnis instrument at 97°C | ||
| Specific antibody | Purified monoclonal mouse anti-Ki-67, clone MIB-1 (Code GE020) | ||
| Negative Control Reagent | Protein matched, mouse immunoglobulin G isotype control. Negative Control Reagent (Code GE020) | ||
| Detection system | Polymer based—EnVision FLEX Detection System (Code GV800) | ||
| Counterstain | EnVision FLEX Hematoxylin (Code GC808) | ||
| Quality control | Positive and negative control tissues were run for each staining procedure. Control tissues were fixed in the same way as the patient tissue | ||
| Postanalytical (interpretation and scoring) | Tissue specimen criteria | Invasive breast carcinoma | |
| Minimum 200 viable invasive tumor cells present in specimen | |||
| Only well-preserved and well-stained areas of the specimen were used to determine the percentage of positive tumor cells | |||
| Only the invasive cancer component was scored; in situ carcinoma was not scored | |||
| Whole tissue score methodology | The entire tissue section was scored. If hot spots were present in the section, they were an integral part of the final score. For whole tissue evaluation, objectives of 10-40× magnification are appropriate. Only nuclear staining of tumor cells was scored | ||
| The percentage of positively stained tumor cells among the total number of invasive cells across the entire slide was determined. Nuclear staining at all intensities (1-3+) was included. The lower limit of 1+ positivity was evaluated using a high-power (eg, 40×) objective and defined by the following rules: | |||
| Signal must be unequivocally brown | |||
| The staining must correspond to a nucleus | |||
| The staining must cover the whole chromatin distribution within the nucleus | |||
| The staining must correspond to a nonapoptotic cell | |||
| Cutoff | Positive | Negative | |
| ≥20% of invasive tumor cells stained | ˂20% of invasive tumor cells stained | ||
Fully automated staining, from deparaffinization to counterstaining.
IHC indicates immunohistochemistry; IUO, investigational use only.
FIGURE 2Expression levels in breast carcinoma tissue bank specimens stained with the investigational use only Ki-67 assay. Breast carcinoma specimen stained with Ki-67 primary antibody exhibiting both negative and weak positive staining. Negative cells showing gray staining defined as being below the threshold for positivity are indicated with black arrows. Cells with weak positive 1+ staining are indicated with green arrows (20× objective; scale bar is 50 μm).
FIGURE 3Summary of percent agreement for assay external reproducibility studies performed at 3 external sites. Left 2 graphs demonstrate intersite and intrasite reproducibility, which measures assay staining and scoring interpretation. Right 2 graphs demonstrate inter- and intraobserver reproducibility, which measures scoring interpretation only. Horizontal dashed lines indicate acceptance criteria for the external reproducibility studies. CI indicates confidence interval; OA, overall percent agreement; NPA, negative percent agreement; PPA positive percent agreement.
FIGURE 4LOESS plot of external reproducibility interobserver Ki-67 continuous scores grouped by observer. LOESS lines demonstrate average trends over interobserver data using locally weighted regression. IHC indicates immunohistochemistry; LOESS, locally estimated scatterplot smoothing.
FIGURE 5Kaplan-Meier plot demonstrating the prognostic value of the assay in the monarchE phase 3 study. Among patients with high clinicopathologic risk factors, patients whose tumors displayed high Ki-67 (≥20%) had an even greater risk of recurrence than those with low Ki-67 tumors (<20%); 2-year IDFS rate: 86.1% (95% confidence interval: 83.1-88.7) versus 92.0% (95% confidence interval: 89.7-93.9), respectively. ET indicates endocrine therapy.