J Gastric Cancer.  2014 Sep;14(3):180-186. 10.5230/jgc.2014.14.3.180.

Correlation between HER2 Overexpression and Clinicopathological Characteristics in Gastric Cancer Patients Who Have Undergone Curative Resection

• Son HS
• Shin YM
• Park KK
• Seo KW
• Yoon KY
• Jang HK
• Lee SH
• Yang SI
• Kim JH

• KMID: 2372529
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5230/jgc.2014.14.3.180

Abstract

PURPOSE
At present, a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-based concept of tumor biology has been established, and trastuzumab (Herceptin(R); Genentech/Roche, San Francisco, CA, USA), a monoclonal humanized antibody directed against HER2, is a pivotal agent for the management of HER2 positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer. It is also known that HER2 has a predictive value in gastric cancer; however, its association with the prognosis of this disease remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate both the relationship between HER2 overexpression in the tumors of gastric cancer patients, and the prognosis of these patients who have had curative resection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 139 consecutive patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgery at the Kosin University Gospel Hospital between October 2011 and March 2012 were included in this retrospective study. All tumor samples were examined for HER2 expression by immunohistochemistry. A retrospective review of the medical records was conducted to determine the correlation between the presence of HER2 overexpression and clinicopathological factors.
RESULTS
The HER2+ rate was 15.1%. HER2 overexpression was associated with histological grade (P=0.044) and Lauren classification (P=0.036). There was no significant difference in the 2-year overall survival between HER2+ and HER2- patients (P=0.396). Multivariate analysis showed that HER2 was not an independent prognostic factor.
CONCLUSIONS
HER2 overexpression in tumors was associated with histological grade and Lauren classification in gastric cancer patients with curative resection. However, HER2 was not an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer in our study.

Keyword

Stomach neoplasms; Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Biology
Breast Neoplasms
Classification
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Medical Records
Multivariate Analysis
Prognosis
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
Retrospective Studies
Stomach Neoplasms*
Trastuzumab
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Immunohistochemical analysis of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein expression (×200). (A) Immunostaining shows no staining on tumor cell membrane. (B) Immunostaining shows positive reaction (1+). (C) Immunostaining shows positive reaction (2+). (D) Immunostaining shows positive reaction (3+) with complete or basolateral membraneous staining.

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  Fig. 2 Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. (A) Overall survival curves of 139 gastric cancer patients according to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) detection (P=0.908). (B) Recurrence-free survival (P=0.057).

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