c‐erb‐2 oncogene expression in Stage I epithelial ovarian cancer

Clinical value of new techniques of gynecological tumor assessment

“…k‐ ras point mutationsoccur in 20–40% of ovarian carcinomas(172,173), and the ras oncogene product p21 is often detectable inovarian neoplasms(174,175), but these have not been shown to have any correlation with tumorcharacteristics or clinical outcome. Overexpression of the c‐ erb B‐2oncogene is found in 20% of early stage ovarian adenocarcinomas(176)and more commonly in advanced‐stage disease(177), but there has been considerable disagreementabout the prognostic significance of this finding, some noting that c‐ erb B‐2 expression is associated with a poor prognosis(177–179) and others finding it hasno prognostic significance(176,180–185). The oncogene‐encoded EGFR is detectable in about 12% of ovariancarcinomas, and its expression appears to be an independent, adverse prognosticfactor(172).…”