HER-2/neu and p53 overexpression as biomarkers of breast carcinoma in women age 30 years and younger.

Although p53 and HER-2/neu overexpression are found in 30% of breast carcinomas in women of all ages and are associated with high rates of lymph node metastases, their role in women age < 30 years has not been studied extensively. The institutional breast cancer data base was searched to identify young women (23-30 years) with breast carcinoma. An immunohistochemical analysis was performed to determine estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor expression and p53 and HER-2/neu overexpression. Positive staining for p53 was defined as nuclear staining in > 10% of tumor cells. HER-2/neu membranous staining was graded as 0, 1 (incomplete, faint staining in > 10% of cells), 2 (weak-to-moderate, complete staining in > 10% of cells), or 3 (complete, strong staining in > 10% of cells). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed on all samples with > or = 2 and > or = 3 results, and only FISH-positive samples were classified as positive. The overexpression was correlated with clinicopathologic features. Among 44 patients, 1 patient had medullary carcinoma, and 1 had mixed ductal/lobular carcinoma. All remaining patients were diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. The clinical stage was T1 in 5 patients, T2 in 24 patients, T3 in 10 patients, T4 in 4 patients, and unavailable in 1 patient. Positive p53 status was determined in 22 of 44 patients (50%), and positive HER-2/neu status was determined in 18 of 41 patients (44%). Tumors with lymph node metastasis had a significantly greater incidence of HER-2/neu overexpression (P=0.04). Frequent overexpression of HER-2/neu and p53 was found in the patient population. HER-2/neu overexpression was associated significantly with lymph node involvement and, thus, may be a marker for aggressive clinical behavior in patients with breast carcinoma age < or = 30 years.

Maru D ，Middleton LP ，Wang S ，Valero V ，Sahin A ... -  《CANCER》

Do we need HER-2/neu testing for all patients with primary breast carcinoma?

HER-2/neu is a valuable prognostic marker in primary breast carcinoma. Controversy surrounds the correlation between HER-2/neu expression and other prognostic markers, as has been discussed in preclinical and clinical studies. The objective of the current study was to investigate the probability, calculated using parameters that are assessed routinely in clinical practice, that patients with breast carcinoma had positive HER-2/neu status. The authors evaluated HER-2/neu status in 923 consecutive patients with breast carcinoma by immunohistochemical methods. Correlations involving HER-2/neu status, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status, tumor grade, patient age, lymph node involvement, and tumor size were evaluated using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test and the Spearman correlation. The authors created a simple scoring system (i.e., the diagnostic instrument for validation of HER-2/neu score) to define subgroups of patients with breast carcinoma and to determine the likelihood of HER-2/neu positivity. HER-2/neu overexpression was correlated significantly with negative ER (P = 0.0001) and PR status (P = 0.0001), Grade 3 (G3) lesions (P = 0.0001), and young age (P = 0.006). The likelihood of HER-2/neu positivity in a patient with positive ER and PR status and G1/G2 disease was approximately 6.1%. The authors demonstrated in a large patient series that HER-2/neu overexpression was associated with negative hormone receptor status, G3, and young age. In a subgroup of patients presenting with hormone-responsive and G1/G2 tumors, the likelihood of HER-2/neu overexpression was very small. Therefore, the assessment of HER-2/neu status in this subgroup of patients with breast carcinoma may be considered unnecessary, unless the role of HER-2/neu status in adjuvant treatment has been proven.

Taucher S ，Rudas M ，Mader RM ，Gnant M ，Dubsky P ，Bachleitner T ，Roka S ，Fitzal F ，Kandioler D ，Sporn E ，Friedl J ，Mittlböck M ，Jakesz R ... -  《CANCER》

Histopathologic characteristics predicting HER-2/neu amplification in breast cancer.

Prati R ，Apple SK ，He J ，Gornbein JA ，Chang HR ... -  《Breast Journal》

Association of HER-2/neu overexpression with the number of involved axillary lymph nodes in hormone receptor positive breast cancer patients.

Tokatli F ，Altaner S ，Uzal C ，Ture M ，Kocak Z ，Uygun K ，Bilgi S ... -  《-》

HER-2/neu overexpression in breast cancer: an immunohistochemical study including correlations with clinicopathologic parameters, p53 oncoprotein and cathepsin-D.

Korkolis D ，Ardavanis A ，Yotis J ，Kyroudi A ，Gorgoulis V ，Kittas C ... -  《ANTICANCER RESEARCH》