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Prognostic Value of HER-2/neu Gene Amplification in Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma

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The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) has tyrosine kinase activity and is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family. This initiates a variety of signal for pathways which leads to cell proliferation and tumourigenesis. In approximately 15–30% of breast cancers and 10–30% of gastric/gastroesophageal cancers, amplification or overexpression of HER2 occurs, and it serves as a prognostic and predictive biomarker. HER-2/neu is one of the most frequently studied molecular biological parameters in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), but its prognostic impact has not been fully assessed. The objective of the current study was firstly to analyse the presence of HER-2 overexpression in EOC patients and secondly to evaluate association between human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2/neu) expression and progression-free survival in patients with EOC.

Method

In this prospective study of 2 years in our department, 186 gynaecological cancers were operated out of which 98 cases were operated for epithelial ovarian cancer and rest for cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, and other subtypes of ovarian cancer. In this study, HER2 gene status was evaluated in EOC by immunohistochemistry analysis, and overall survival of these patients was evaluated.

Results

HER-2 overexpression was found in 22 of the 98 investigated cases (22.45%), in which 14 OC (14.29%) were weakly positive and 8 OC (8.16%) were moderately to intensely positive. In the study, increased HER2 expression was associated with decreased progression-free survival (PFS) and hence poor prognosis (P 0.054).

Conclusions

The introduction of HER2-directed therapies has dramatically influenced the outcome of patients with HER2 positive breast and gastric/gastroesophageal cancers. The present study findings provided that HER-2/neu expression in patients with OC has an adverse impact on the PFS. Therefore, our results show that the decision algorithm usually used in breast cancer by HER2 may be appropriate in ovarian cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RCC, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna, Bihar, 800014, India

    Sangeeta Pankaj & Richa Madhawi

  2. Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna, India

    Jaya Kumari, Vijayanand Choudhary, Anita Kumari, Simi Kumari, Anjili Kumari & Syed Nazneen

  3. Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna, India

    Shishir Kumar

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  1. Sangeeta Pankaj
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  2. Jaya Kumari
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  3. Vijayanand Choudhary
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  4. Anita Kumari
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  5. Simi Kumari
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  6. Anjili Kumari
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  7. Syed Nazneen
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  8. Richa Madhawi
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  9. Shishir Kumar
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Correspondence to Sangeeta Pankaj.

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Conflict of interest

We declare that this manuscript is original; it has not been published anywhere before and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. We also confirm that the authors do not have any conflict of interest associated with publication of this work and no significant financial support/funding for this work has been received to influenced the outcome. The manuscript is read, approved, and consent is given by all the authors. We give our permission to reproduce any material of the article.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Dr. Sangeeta Pankaj: Additional Professor, Gynecological Oncology, RCC, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Jaya Kumari: S.R., IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Vijayanand Choudhary: Additional Professor, Pathology, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Anita Kumari: Senior Resident, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Simi Kumari: Senior Resident, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Anjili Kumari: Senior Resident, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Syed Nazneen: Senior Resident, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Richa Madhawi: Assistant Professor, RCC, IGIMS, Patna. Dr. Shishir Kumar: Assistant Professor, Biostatics, Department of Community Medicine, IGIMS, Patna.

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Pankaj, S., Kumari, J., Choudhary, V. et al. Prognostic Value of HER-2/neu Gene Amplification in Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma. J Obstet Gynecol India 69 (Suppl 2), 177–181 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-018-1186-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-018-1186-5

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