Discordant Results Obtained for Different Methods of HER-2/Neu Testing in Breast Cancer – A Question of Standardization, Automation and Timing

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lüftner ◽  
P. Henschke ◽  
A. Kafka ◽  
I. Anagnostopoulos ◽  
K. Wiechen ◽  
...  

Background HER-2/neu positivity is required for the selection of stage IV breast cancer patients for trastuzumab therapy. We compared the results of the recommended immunohistochemistry (IHC) evaluation with the automated ACIS™ IHC system and with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). These HER-2/neu tissue results were correlated with the serum HER-2/neu (sHER-2/neu) levels at the time of metastatic spread. Patients and Methods A total of 61 IHC slides from 30 patients were stained using the HercepTest™. HER-2/neu gene amplification was determined using the Ventana™ FISH assay. sHER-2/neu levels were measured with the Oncogene Science” ELISA kit. The concordance of HER-2/neu results was determined using the concordance index Kappa (κ). Results The best concordance between any IHC and FISH was found for the automated ACIS system (88.5%, κ=0.68, category “good”). The comparison between the manual interpretations and the automated IHC was categorized as “very good” (95.1%, κ=0.85). The median sHER-2/neu level of FISH positive patients was significantly higher (67 ng/mL) than that of FISH negative patients (17 ng/mL, p=0.018). The increase in HER-2/neu positivity comparing tissue to stage IV serum was statistically significant (p=0.001). Conclusions The concordance between conventional IHC and computerized analysis was very good. The number of patients with stage IV breast cancer with an elevated sHER-2/neu level was much higher than HER-2/neu positivity in tissue. This discrepancy is only partially explained by the influence of tumor load. Patients with an elevated sHER-2/neu level and no tissue overexpression should be considered for retesting of tissue or a new biopsy.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Bogdanovska-Todorovska ◽  
Slavica Kostadinova-Kunovska ◽  
Rubens Jovanovik ◽  
Blagica Krsteska ◽  
Goran Kondov ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Accurate assessment of HER-2 is imperative in selecting patients for targeted therapy. Most commonly used test methods for HER-2 are immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). We evaluated the concordance between FISH and IHC for HER-2 in breast cancer samples using Food and Drug Administration approved tests.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Archived paraffin tissue blocks from 73 breast cancer patients were used. HER-2 immunostaining was performed using Ventana anti–HER-2 monoclonal antibody. The FISH assay was performed using PathVysion™ HER-2 DNA Probe Kit.RESULTS: Of the 73 cases 68.5% were IHC 0/1+, 15.07% were IHC 2+ and 16.44% were IHC 3+. Successful hybridisation was achieved in 72 cases. HER-2 FISH amplification was determined in 16.67% cases. Ten IHC 3+ and two IHC 2+ cases were FISH positive. Two of the IHC 3+ cases were FISH negative. Concordance rate was 100%, 18.18% and 83.33% for IHC 0/1+, 2+ and 3+ group, respectively. Total concordance was 84.72%, kappa 0.598 (p < 0.0001). The sensitivity of IHC in detecting IHC 2+ and IHC 3+ cases was 16.7% and 83.3%, and the specificity was 85% and 96.67%, respectively.CONCLUSION: The consistency between the methods was highest for IHC negative and lowest for IHC equivocal cases. The immunohistochemistry showed high sensitivity for IHC 2+/3+ cases and high specificity for IHC 3+ cases. Our results support the view that false-positive rather than false-negative IHC results are a problem with HER-2/IHC testing, and that IHC should be used as an initial screening test, but IHC 2+/ 3+ results should be confirmed by FISH.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e13065-e13065
Author(s):  
Qian Dong ◽  
Mi Zhang ◽  
Da Jiang

e13065 Background: To analyze the correlation between tumor size and metastatic site in first-diagnosed stage IV breast cancer patients. Methods: Stage IV breast cancer patients diagnosed from 2010 to 2015 were screened by the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The characteristics of clinical variables were represented by a frequency table, and the Chi-square test was used for comparison. At the same time, the Chi-square test was used to analyze the relationship between tumor size and organ metastasis. Correlation between tumor size and the prognosis of patients was contributed by KM curve and Log-rank test. Results: Regardless of tumor size, the proportion of bone metastasis was higher and brain metastasis was lower in breast cancer patients. There were significant differences in the site of metastases based on different subtype. Luminal A and Luminal B breast cancer had the highest proportion of bone metastases; brain metastasis accounted for the highest proportion in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC); while the incidence of liver metastasis was the highest in Her-2(+) breast cancer. At the same time, the results indicated that Luminal A breast cancer with a tumor size > 5 cm was more likely to develop multi-site metastasis and lung metastasis, while Luminal B breast cancer with a tumor size ≤ 5 cm was more likely to develop liver metastasis. The results also revealed that TNBC patients with a tumor size of 0 - 2cm were more likely to develop bone metastasis than those with a tumor size > 5 cm, and the incidence of lung metastasis in triple-negative patients showed an increasing trend with the increase of tumor size. Conclusions: Based on subtype, we found that there was a significant difference between tumor size and metastatic site in patients with stage IV breast cancer, and the difference was statistically significant. This study provided evidence-based basis for decision-making of stage IV breast cancer treatment.


2002 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1360-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Schöndorf ◽  
Markus Hoopmann ◽  
Mathias Warm ◽  
Rainer Neumann ◽  
Anke Thomas ◽  
...  

1986 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Colomer ◽  
Alvaro Ruibal ◽  
Matilde Navarro ◽  
Gloria Encabo ◽  
Luis Alfonso Sole ◽  
...  

CA 15.3 is an antigen expressed by human breast carcinoma cells, and defined by two monoclonal antibodies, 115D8 and DF3. We used IRMA to determine the circulating serum levels of CA 15.3 in 1178 subjects with breast cancer, non-breast malignancies, benign diseases and controls. A threshold level of 40 U/ml was established with 140 healthy controls and 650 patients with benign diseases (respectively 0% subjects and 1.5% patients had abnormal antigen levels). Elevated CA 15.3 was found in 12 of 184 patients with malignancies different from breast cancer (6.5%), either epithelial carcinomas with distant metastases, mainly in the liver, or primary liver tumors. Breast cancer patients (n=204) were analysed by prior therapy, UICC stage and WHO response to therapy. Eight of 134 (5.9%) patients with stage II or III breast cancer at presentation and no evidence of disease (NED) had elevated CA 15.3. All of 22 patients with stage IV breast cancer not responding to therapy (SD and PD) had antigen levels > 40 U/ml, as did 10 of 34 (29.4%) stage IV patients in objective response (CR+PR). Three of 14 pretreatment patients had abnormal marker levels, and they later proved to have distant metastases. Serum CA 15.3 values were statistically different (p < 0.01) in NED (20.6 ± 11.2 U/ml), CR+PR (33.5 ± 24.0 U/ml), stable disease (98.8 ± 50.4 U/ml) and progressive disease (> 200 U/ml) breast cancer patients. Our results suggest that circulating CA 15.3 antigen levels agree with the stage of breast cancer and with the response to therapy.


Blood ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 77 (8) ◽  
pp. 1717-1722 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Berenson ◽  
WI Bensinger ◽  
RS Hill ◽  
RG Andrews ◽  
J Garcia-Lopez ◽  
...  

Abstract The CD34 antigen is expressed by 1% to 4% of human and baboon marrow cells, including virtually all hematopoietic progenitors detectable by in vitro assays. Previous work from our laboratory has shown that CD34+ marrow cells can engraft lethally irradiated baboons. Because the CD34 antigen has not been detected on most solid tumors, positive selection of CD34+ cells may be used to provide marrow cells capable of engraftment, but depleted of tumor cells. In seven patients with stage IV breast cancer and two patients with stage IV neuroblastoma, 2.5 to 17.5 x 10(9) marrow cells were separated by immunoadsorption with the anti-CD34 antibody 12–8 and 50 to 260 x 10(6) positively selected cells were recovered that were 64 +/- 16% (range 35% to 92%) CD34+. The patients received 1.0 to 5.2 x 10(6) CD34-enriched cells/kg after marrow ablative therapy. Six patients engrafted, achieving granulocyte counts of greater than 500/mm3 at 34 +/- 10 (range 21 to 47) days and platelets counts of greater than 20,000/mm3 at 46 +/- 14 (range 28 to 66) days posttransplant. Five of these patients showed durable engraftment until the time of death 82 to 386 days posttransplant. One patient failed to sustain engraftment associated with metastatic marrow disease. Three patients died at days 14, 14, and 17 posttransplant, two of whom had evidence of early engraftment. These studies suggest that CD34+ marrow cells are capable of reconstituting hematopoiesis in humans.


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