Clinicopathological Significance Of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor- 2 (HER-2/Neu) Over-Expression In Gastric And Oesophageal Carcinomas Of Upper Gastrointestinal Biopsies

  • Lynda Dennis Rodrigues BLDE University's Shri BM Patil Medical College, Karnataka, INDIA
  • Surekha B Hippargi BLDE University's Shri BM Patil Medical College, Karnataka, INDIA
Keywords: Adenocarcinoma, endoscopic biopsy, HER-2/neu, immunohistochemistry.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: HER-2/neu plays a key role in the pathogenesis of gastric and oesophageal carcinomas and it’s over expression has been documented in 6.8–34% of gastric carcinomas and 10-12.1% of oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Detecting the HER-2/neu status is a prerequisite for monoclonal antibody therapy. In this study, immunohistochemistry was used to detect HER-2/neu over- expression in gastric and oesophageal carcinomas. OBJECTIVE: To associate HER-2/neu over-expression with age, sex, type and grade of gastric and esophageal carcinomas in upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopic biopsies. METHODS: HER-2/neu expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry on esophageal and gastric carcinomas of UGI endoscopic biopsies received at our institution. Association between the expression of HER-2/neu and clinico-pathological parameters was statistically analysed. RESULTS: The association was not statistically significant between age, sex and grade of the tumour with HER-2/neu overexpression. HER-2/neu overexpression was seen in 14.2% of gastric adenocarcinomas, 20% of esophageal adenocarcinomas and 4% of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. Predominantly, intestinal type (9.5%) of gastric carcinoma showed HER-2neu over-expression followed by diffuse type (2.3%) and mixed type (2.3%). CONCLUSION: In view of increasing trend of UGI tract malignancies and associated poor survival of advanced carcinomas, assessing HER-2/neu over-expression in gastric and esophageal carcinomas is helpful to decide the utility of adjuvant targeted chemotherapy.

Author Biographies

Lynda Dennis Rodrigues, BLDE University's Shri BM Patil Medical College, Karnataka, INDIA
Post Graduate Student Department of Pathology
Surekha B Hippargi, BLDE University's Shri BM Patil Medical College, Karnataka, INDIA
Professor Department of Pathology

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Published
2018-11-30
Section
Original Article