HER2 gene amplification in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is less than in gastroesophageal junction and gastric adenocarcinoma

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to detect the amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GEJAC) and gastric cancer (GC), as well as to understand the pathological meaning of HER2 gene amplification with regard to clinico-pathological parameters in these types of cancer. HER2 gene amplification was evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in surgically obtained specimens from 76 cases of ESCC, 50 of GEJAC and 48 of GC, as well as 21 specimens of tumor-adjacent normal epithelium as a control group. The HER2 gene amplification rates in ESCC, GEJAC and GC were 3.9 (3/76), 24.0 (12/50) and 18.8% (9/48), respectively. The rates of HER2 gene amplification in GEJAC and GC were significantly higher compared with ESCC (χ2=11.563, P<0.001 and χ2=7.375, P<0.007, respectively). HER2 gene amplification was not detected in the normal esophageal or gastric mucosa samples. In ESCC, HER2 gene amplification was correlated with the invasion of the ESCC cells, vascular invasion and lymph node metastasis (χ2=4.789, 3.858 and 5.354, respectively; all P<0.05). However, in GEJAC and GC, no correlations were observed between HER2 amplification and the gender, age, degree of differentiation, invasion, vascular invasion and lymph node metastases of the patients (all P>0.05). The rate of HER-2 gene amplification was low in ESCC, although the amplification of HER-2 was correlated with tumor metastasis in these patients. The rates of HER-2 gene amplification in GEJAC and GC were higher compared with ESCC. Therefore, compared with ESCC, GEJAC may be more similar to GC with regard to HER-2 gene amplification features.

HER-2/neu Overxpression in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and Its Correlation with Patient’s Clinicopathological Features

“…In contrast, HER2 positivity in a study developed by Gonzaga et al (18) was 21% in ESCC patients. In the current study, HER2/neu overexpression was observed in 4 patients (6%) (Score +3) of study population which is in line with some previously published reports (20,27). This variation may be due to the differences in IHC staining methods, different criteria for evaluating HER2 expression and different incidence of ESCC around the world.…”

“…Similar to the result of Yukie Sato et al study, no correlation was observed between tumor invasion and HER2/neu overexpression in present study (4). However, in JUN XING et al (20) study, HER2 gene amplification was correlated with the invasion of the ESCC cells. Therefore, further studies are required to provide more clarity regarding this issue.…”

“…2016; 9(5):e5007. no significant association between gender and age with HER2/neu overexpression in patients with ESCC which supports the results of previous studies (19,20). In this study, overall HER2 expression in ESCC patients without considering IHC scores was (33 patients) 51.5% which seems to be high compared to previous reports (21)(22)(23).…”

“…This variation may be due to the differences in IHC staining methods, different criteria for evaluating HER2 expression and different incidence of ESCC around the world. Furthermore, compared to the results of previous studies, the present data indicated that HER2 positivity in ESCC was lower than gastric and breast cancers reported in previous studies (20,28,29).…”

Curcumin Induces Apoptosis in SGC-7901 Gastric Adenocarcinoma Cells via Regulation of Mitochondrial Signaling Pathways

“…Gastric carcinoma (GC) remains the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide (Huang et al, 2013). According to the statistics, the 5-year relative survival rate of gastric cancer patients is 24.3% (Shin et al, 2012).…”