Inter-observer agreement in reporting HER 2 Neu protein over expression by immunohistochemistry

• Main Authors: Ibrahim Al Haddabi, Asim Qureshi, Anna Saparamadu, Aisha Al Hamdani, Marwa Al Riyami, Shyam Ganguly
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2014-01-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology
• Subjects: HER 2 Neu; immunohistochemistry; peer review
• Online Access: http://www.ijpmonline.org/article.asp?issn=0377-4929;year=2014;volume=57;issue=2;spage=201;epage=204;aulast=Al

Introduction: HER 2 Neu protein overexpression and its detection by immunohistochemistry (IHC) has become quiet critical because of its relevance in regards to Herceptin treatment. This peer review was done at a tertiary care center, which aimed at determining the inter-observer variation among five pathologists and evaluating the degree of agreement between them. Aims: The aim of our study was to determine the reproducibility of HER 2 Neu system of reporting in breast cancer cases and determine inter-observer variability among five pathologists at a tertiary care center. To compare the results with similar studies done at other centers. Settings and Design: Retrospective descriptive study. Materials and Methods: Hematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) and IHC stained slides of 104 cases of carcinoma breast, on which HER 2 Neu status had been reported were reviewed. The time period for selection was from January 2010 to December 2011 (2 year period). Five pathologists reviewed the H and E and IHC slides independently and scored the results on a specially designed work sheet. Kappa values for inter-observer variation and Cornbach′s alpha for internal consistency were calculated. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS 20.0 (IBM). not known. Results: Complete agreement was seen between all five pathologists in 70 cases (70/104) = 67%. Agreement between four pathologists was seen in 78 cases (78/104) = 75%. Agreement between three pathologists was seen in 92 cases (92/104) = 88%. The global value for kappa co efficient for agreement between two pathologists was 0.706 and Cornbach alpha for internal consistency of reporting in the department was 0.987. Conclusion/Key Messages: Our departmental peer review indicated that there is good inter-observer concordance (agreement between two pathologists) and there is strong overall internal consistency of reporting for HER 2 Neu reporting by IHC. Our results are comparable to International reported data of similar studies.