Marked Intratumoral Heterogeneity of the Proto‐Oncogene Her‐2/ neu Determined by Three Different Detection Systems
- 1 November 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in The Breast Journal
- Vol. 5 (6), 369-374
- https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1524-4741.1999.97088.x
Abstract
It is customary to submit only one portion of a breast cancer to determine if there is amplification or overexpression of the proto-oncogene HER-2/neu. In routine studies of the expression of neu in breast cancer, however, we noted discrepancies in intratumoral positivity. To investigate this phenomenon further, multiple tumor specimens (129 samples) from 41 women with breast cancer were examined. Forty cases were analyzed for neu amplification by slot blot assay and 18 with fluorescent in situ hybridization. Neu overexpression was determined using four different specific antibodies. In more than 50% of cases there were discrepancies in results between the tissue blocks examined. This was evident in both inter- and intra-assay comparisons. It is concluded that intratumoral heterogeneity of neu amplification/overexpression in breast cancer exists to a far greater degree than previously recognized and could be a responsible factor for conflicting published data regarding neu's prognostic significance. Examination of only one tumor sample may not give a true indication of either amplification or overexpression of this oncogene.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Enhanced Chemoresistance by Elevation of p185neu Levels in HER-2/neu-Transfected Human Lung Cancer CellsJNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1995
- Analysis of cerbB2 expression using a panel of 6 commercially available antibodiesPathology, 1994
- Steroid hormone receptor immunohistochemistry and amplification of c-myc protooncogene relationship to disease-free survival in breast cancerCancer, 1993
- pathological prognostic factors in breast cancer. I. The value of histological grade in breast cancer: experience from a large study with long‐term follow‐upHistopathology, 1991
- Long‐term survival in breast cancer related to overexpression of the c‐erbB‐2 oncoprotein: An immunohistochemical study using monoclonal antibody NCL‐CB11The Journal of Pathology, 1991
- HER-2 oncogene amplification and overall survival of breast carcinoma patientsEuropean Journal of Cancer and Clinical Oncology, 1990
- Immunohistochemical distribution of c‐erbB‐2 in infiltrating and in situ breast cancerInternational Journal of Cancer, 1988
- Neu-Protein Overexpression in Breast CancerNew England Journal of Medicine, 1988
- Human Breast Cancer: Correlation of Relapse and Survival with Amplification of the HER-2/ neu OncogeneScience, 1987
- Tyrosine Kinase Receptor with Extensive Homology to EGF Receptor Shares Chromosomal Location with neu OncogeneScience, 1985