Abstract
Background and objective: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a key pathological characteristic in gastric cancer patients. However, the clinical significance of HER2 protein expression in gastric carcinoma remains controversial. The purpose of the study is to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of HER2 protein expression, Lauren classification and P53 expression and evaluate the clinical significance of the HER2 protein expression. Methods: A total of 176 consecutive patients were recruited prospectively between January 2014 and December 2016 in The Second Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Histological analysis was performed on resected tissue for HER2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The patients with IHC grade 2+ were analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to assess the expression status of HER2 protein. Moreover, standardized criteria of HER2 protein expression in gastric cancer was used in this study. Additionally, the expression status of HER2 protein and clinicopathological features were analyzed by Chi-square (c2) test. All statistical analyses were conducted using the SPSS 22.0 statistical software program (IBM Corp., SPSS statistics, Chicago, IL).Results: A total of 176 gastric cancer patients were enrolled in this study. Intratumorally heterogeneity of HER2 protein overexpression was 42 of 176 cases with IHC grade 2+ accompanied with FISH positivity and IHC grade 3+. HER2 protein expression correlated with tumor differentiation (p < 0.001), Lauren classification (p = 0.001), Borrmann type (p = 0.003) and P53 expression (p < 0.001). Overall survival (OS) was not analyzed because the follow-up duration was too short and the high rate of missed interview.Conclusions: The overexpression of HER2 protein was determined in 23.9% of the cases and significantly related to Lauren intestinal subtype and P53 expression.
Clinical significance of overexpression of NRG1 and its receptors, HER3 and HER4, in gastric cancer patients
