Investigation of Her-2 Expression and Its Correlation With Clinicopathological Parameters and Overall Survival of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients Publisher



Heidarpour M¹ ; Taheri M¹ ; Akhavan A² ; Goli P³ ; Kefayat A⁴
Source: Iranian Journal of Pathology Published:2020

Abstract

Background & Objective: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) exhibits a vast range of expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients as a biomarker. This paper aimed to investigate HER-2 expression and clinicopathological parameters of esophageal SCC. Methods: HER-2 expression was assessed in 102 ESCC patients by immunohistochemistry. The HER-2 staining intensity, according to the Gastric HER2 Biomarker1.0.0.1 version of the college of American pathologists (CAP) protocol for gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers, was graded as 0 (no reactivity in any of the cancer cells’ membranes); 1+ (pale or hardly noticeable reactivity in the membrane of cancer cells’ cluster [≥ 5 neoplastic cells] regardless of the positive cancer cells’ percentage); 2+ (weak-to-moderate complete, basolateral, or lateral membranous reactivity regardless of the positive cancer cells’ percentage); and 3+ ( strong complete, basolateral, or lateral reactivity in the membrane of the cancer cell cluster regardless of the positive cancer cells’ percentage).In this regard, 3+ scored samples were considered as positive. If HER-2 expression was scored 2+, an additional fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed. Fisher's exact test was employed for investigating the correlation of HER-2 expression status with patients’ clinicopathological characteristics (including age, gender, tumor location, stage, grade, infiltration level, venous invasion, lymphatic invasion, and tumor recurrence). Kaplan-Meier analysis was done for the patients’ survival assessments. Results: Five patients (~5%) were HER-2 positive and no significant association was observed between HER-2 expression and clinicopathological properties. In addition, HER-2 expression status exhibited no significant association with the patients’ overall survival (P=0.9299). Conclusion: HER-2 is not a suitable prognostic biomarker for Iranian ESCC patients. © 2020, Iranian Society of Pathology. All rights reserved.