HER-2/neu overexpression and amplification in uterine serous papillary carcinoma: comparative analysis of immunohistochemistry, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and fluorescence in situ hybridization

Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2008 Jan-Feb;18(1):14-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1438.2007.00946.x. Epub 2007 Apr 19.

Abstract

Uterine serous papillary carcinoma (USPC) is a rare and highly malignant form of endometrial cancer (EC) characterized by early metastasis, chemoresistance, and high mortality rate. Little is known about USPC tumorigenesis even if recently a HER-2/neu role has been suggested in its development and progression. The aim of the present study was to evaluate HER-2 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 12 USPC formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. Moreover, we looked at the correlation between HER-2 protein expression and HER-2/neu gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), other than HER-2/neu messenger RNA expression by quantitative real-time reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Finally, these results have been compared with commonly evaluated clinical features in EC patients, in order to define the potential prognostic value of HER-2/neu overexpression in USPCs. A high expression of HER-2 protein by IHC was noted in 2 of 12 patients (16.6%), and the same cases showed specific HER-2/neu gene amplification by FISH. All the samples investigated displayed a perfect concordance between IHC and FISH data. Five (41.6%) of 12 tumors demonstrated polysomy of chromosome 17 and, focusing on the 2 USPCs that showed HER-2/neu overexpression, one of them (50%) was polysomic for chromosome 17. All the other USPC cases (58.4%) showed to be disomic for chromosome 17. Quantitative RT real-time PCR performed on complementary DNA obtained from all FFPE USPC samples showed a complete correlation with FISH and IHC data. Moreover, HER-2/neu overexpression was associated with a poorer overall survival and a very low relapse-free survival time, thus being considered a candidate marker of worse overall prognosis in USPC. The use of trastuzumab (Herceptin), a monoclonal antibody directed against HER-2/neu, for the therapy of patients with HER-2/neu-positive USPCs should be further investigated in clinical trials.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Papillary / genetics*
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Papillary / metabolism
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Papillary / pathology
  • Female
  • Gene Amplification*
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques
  • In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
  • Lymph Nodes / pathology
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology
  • Paraffin Embedding
  • Prognosis
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / genetics*
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / metabolism*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Survival Rate
  • Uterine Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Uterine Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Uterine Neoplasms / pathology

Substances

  • Receptor, ErbB-2