Overexpression of HER-2/neu is associated with poor survival in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

Previous studies have suggested that overexpression of HER-2/neu oncogene occurs in 15-40% of breast cancers and that overexpression is associated with poor prognosis. In the present report, we have used an immunohistochemical technique involving a monoclonal antibody specifically reactive with the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 1990-07, Vol.50 (13), p.4087-4091
Main Authors: Berchuck, A, Kamel, A, Whitaker, R, Kerns, B, Olt, G, Kinney, R, Soper, J T, Dodge, R, Clarke-Pearson, D L, Marks, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Female
Humans
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Ovarian Neoplasms - analysis
Ovarian Neoplasms - mortality
Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology
Ovarian Neoplasms - therapy
Probability
Prognosis
Proto-Oncogene Proteins - analysis
Receptor, ErbB-2
Reoperation
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Previous studies have suggested that overexpression of HER-2/neu oncogene occurs in 15-40% of breast cancers and that overexpression is associated with poor prognosis. In the present report, we have used an immunohistochemical technique involving a monoclonal antibody specifically reactive with the external domain of HER-2/neu to study expression of HER-2/neu in frozen sections of normal ovary and advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. The intensity of staining for HER-2neu was always moderate or less (0-2+) in normal ovarian epithelium. Among 73 ovarian cancers, 50 (68%) had staining similar to that for normal ovarian epithelium (0-2+) while 23 (32%) stained heavily (3+). Survival of the 23 patients with high HER-2/neu expression (median, 15.7 months) was significantly worse (P = 0.001) than that of the 50 patients (median, 32.8 months) with normal HER-2/neu expression. In addition, patients whose tumors had high HER-2/neu expression were significantly less likely to have a complete response to primary therapy (P less than 0.05) or have a negative second-look laparotomy when serum CA 125 levels were normal preoperatively (P less than 0.05). These findings suggest that HER-2/neu deserves further evaluation as a prognostic marker in epithelial ovarian cancer.
ISSN:0008-5472