Assessment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2/neu gene amplification and expression as a biomarker for radiotherapy and hormonal-treated breast cancer patients in upper Egypt.

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Breast cancer plays major public health in Egyptian women. In upper Egypt, There is an increase in the incidence of breast cancer compared to other Egyptian areas without know the reasons. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential of HER-2/neu status as one of the important markers to classify the women suffering from breast cancer in upper Egypt and monitoring the responsiveness to different therapies. The present study was performed on 67 female breast cancer patients in the South Egypt Cancer Institute to evaluate HER-2/neu gene amplification and expression. Tissue samples were used for immunohistological analysis of endocrine receptors, HER-2/neu, and HER-2/neu gene amplification. In addition, the blood samples were also used to determine HER-2/neu gene expression. All statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square test. The statistical difference is considered statistically significant at P < 0.05. There was a statistically significant association between HER-2/neu gene expression and the age of patients. There is decrease in the level of HER-2/neu mRNA expression in group treated with chemotherapy and group treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy compared to each group baseline level of HER-2/neu mRNA expression before treatment. On the contrary, the group treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy revealed increase on the level of HER-2/neu mRNA expression when compared with their baseline for the same patients before treatment. We need further studies on the large group of upper Egypt breast cancer patients to confirm that the level of HER-2/neu mRNA expression can be used as a marker for classified them and their response to different treatment.