J Korean Cancer Assoc.  2000 Jun;32(3):467-475.

Amplification and Overexpression of c-erbB-2 in Gastric Cancer

• Jun SY
• Chung HY
• Lee SC
• Huh TL
• Yu W

Abstract

PURPOSE: We compared c-erbB-2 oncogene amplification and oncoprotein expression, trying to identify the biologic and prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 in adendegrees Carcinoma of the stomach.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 43 cases of gastric cancer were analyzed for amplification of c-erbB-2 by differential polymerase chain reaction and for overexpression of gene product by immunohistdegrees Chemistry.
RESULTS
The amplification was detected in 13 cases (30%). Enhanced c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity was observed in 30% (13/43) of tumors. Tumors with gene amplification generally stained strongly (p=0.003). Although the frequency of amplification and overexpression of c-erbB-2 was increased with advanced gastric cancer and with lymph node metastasis, this difference was not statistically significant. c-erbB-2 gene amplification or protein overexpression showed a trend toward a better five year survival rate, but this did not reach a statistical significance.
CONCLUSION
Amplification and/or overexpression of the c-erbB-2 may be of value in clarifying the biologic characteristics of the human gastric cancer. However, more sensitive and more speci fic methods of identifying gene amplification are needed and the standardization of the staining method as well as guidelines for interpreting the staining result are mandatory for this purpose.

Keyword

Stomach neoplasm; Proto-oncogene; c-erbB-2

MeSH Terms

Chemistry
Gene Amplification
Genes, erbB-2
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Neoplasm Metastasis
Oncogenes
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Population Characteristics
Proto-Oncogenes
Stomach
Stomach Neoplasms*
Survival Rate