Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/neu overexpression in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder and its prognostic significance: Is it worth hype?

• Published in: South Asian journal of cancer Vol. 4; no. 3; pp. 115 - 117
• Main Authors: Kumar, Santosh, Prajapati, Omprakash, Vaiphei, Kim, Parmar, Kalpesh Mahesh, Sriharsha, A. S., Singh, S.K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd 01.07.2015; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
• Subjects: C-erbB2 gene; GENITOURINARY : Original Article; GENITOURINARY: Original; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/neu; immunohistochemistry; urothelial cancer; C-erbB2 gene; urothelial cancer; immunohistochemistry; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/neu
• ISSN: 2278-330X; 2278-4306
• DOI: 10.4103/2278-330X.173164

Abstract Aims: In urothelial tumors of the urinary bladder, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)/neu expression has been reported over 10 years, but there is no clear correlation between prognosis and recurrence rate. The present study evaluates prognostic implication of HER-2/neu expression. Subjects and Methods: In this study, 100 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens of primary transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder were processed. HER-2/neu monoclonal antibody immunohistochemistry staining procedure used for the study. Results: A total of 70 (70%) patients were positive for overexpression of HER-2/neu. HER-2/neu was positive in patients with 42 (70%) superficial tumor, 28 (70%) muscle invasive tumor, 41 (75.9%) high-grade tumor, 29 (63%) low grade tumor, 31 (68.9%) recurrent tumor, and 6 (66.6%) had positive lymph nodes. Conclusions: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/neu over expression was not correlated with the tumor stage, lymphnode metastasis or recurrence of the disease. HER-2/neu overexpression was statistically insignificantly correlated with the differentiation grade (P < 0.161) as compared to previous studies. Future studies on HER-2 expression with chemo-sensitivity and efficacy of HER-2-targeted therapies in urothelial carcinomas is needed.