Objective: To study the difference in the expressions of C-erbB-2 gene between the coal miners with pneumoconiosis complicated by pulmonary cancer and the controls with single pulmonary cancer, and its relation to clinical pathology.
Method: Measuring the expressions of C-erbB-2 in 32 cases of pneumoconiosis complicated by pulmonary cancer and those in 30 cases of pulmonary cancer by means of immunohistochemistry.
Results: The positive expression rate in 32 cases of pneumoconiosis complicated by pulmonary cancer was 53.13% whereas that in 30 cases of single pulmonary cancer was 26.67% (P < 0.05); the positive expressions of C-erbB-2 in patients with lymph node metastasis (70.59% in pneumoconiosis group, 50.00% in controls) were significantly different from those without lymph node metastasis (33.33% in pneumoconiosis group, 11.11% in controls) (P < 0.05). The prognosis on patients with positive expressions of C-erbB-2 was poor, and was not related to pathologic category.
Conclusion: C-erbB-2 gene may be an important regulating gene in the coal miners with pneumoconiosis complicated by pulmonary cancer, and as a reference index to determine lymph node metastasis and prognosis.