Immunohistochemical and molecular analyses of HER2 status in breast cancers are highly concordant and complementary approaches
Open Access
- 3 May 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in British Journal of Cancer
- Vol. 104 (11), 1739-1746
- https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2011.135
Abstract
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) are currently the most commonly used methods to assess HER2 status. PCR-based assays allow quantitative determination of HER2 amplification (Q-PCR) or overexpression (Q-RT–PCR), but are not routinely used. We evaluated the relevance of Q-RT–PCR for HER2 status determination. We compared IHC and Q-RT–PCR in 466 breast tumours. In discordant or equivocal cases, five additional methods (IHC with two other antibodies, FISH, silver in situ hybridisation (SISH) and Q-PCR) were combined to determine HER2 status. Two cases with HER2 intra-tumour heterogeneity were further explored by allelic profiles analysis and HUMARA clonality determination after microdissection. We observed 97.3% concordance between Q-RT–PCR and non-equivocal IHC. Twelve out of 466 cases (3%) revealed discordances between the two methods. The power of Q-RT–PCR to predict HER2 status (defined by seven methods) was similar to that of IHC. Although rare, some discordances between techniques might be due to HER2 intra-tumour heterogeneity and we report two examples, one tumour containing two distinct clones, another tumour consisting of HER2 amplified and non-amplified subclones. Q-RT–PCR and IHC are highly concordant methods for HER2 status assessment, and Q-RT–PCR allows a highly reliable quantitative assessment and could be a useful adjunct to IHC.Keywords
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