Expression and prognostic value of HER-2/neu in primary breast cancer with sentinel lymph node metastasis.

Ning-Yao Shi,Zhi-Ji Zhang,Xiao-Dong Yuan,Zhen-Jun Tong,Xiao-Ming Hong

doi:10.1042/bsr20170121

Ning-Yao Shi, Zhi-Ji Zhang + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1042/bsr20170121

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Journal: Bioscience reports	Publication Date: Aug 2, 2017
Citations: 15	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Ningbo No. 2 Hospital

Abstract

The present study explores the correlation of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) protein expression with sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer. The breast cancer tissues and adjacent tissues were obtained from patients with primary breast cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed to detect the mRNA level of HER-2. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation of HER-2 expression with SLN metastasis. The disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of breast cancer patients were investigated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore factors influencing SLN metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer. Compared with adjacent tissues, HER-2 expression was significantly up-regulated in breast cancer tissues. HER-2 expression was correlated with the pathological type, tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging, histological grade, blood vessel invasion, SLN metastasis, estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PR). The expression level of HER-2 was positively related to the SLN metastasis (r=0.548). Median DFS and OS were longer in patients with negative HER-2 expression than in patients with positive HER-2 expression. TNM staging, SLN metastasis, and expression levels of HER-2 and ER were independent factors for DFS of breast cancer patients, while TNM staging, blood vessel invasion, histological grade, SLN metastasis, and expression levels of HER-2 and PR were independent factors for OS of breast cancer patients. Our study suggests that high expression of HER-2 promoted SLN metastasis. HER-2 expression and SLN metastasis were the independent factors for the prognosis of breast cancer.

Highlights

As the most common malignancy and the primary cause of tumor death in women around the world, breast cancer accounts for 25% of overall cancer cases and 15% female cancer deaths [1]
The analysis of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) protein level and clinicopathological features of breast cancer demonstrated that HER-2 expression and HER-2 mRNA level were not associated with the age, menstrual condition, and tumor size of patients with breast cancer, but was correlated with the pathological type, tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging, histological grade, blood vessel invasion, sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis, and expression levels of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) (Table 2)
The results revealed that the positive rate of HER-2 was higher in patients with SLN metastasis than in patients without SLN metastasis, and that HER-2 expression and HER-2 mRNA level were positively correlated with SLN metastasis (r=0.548, P

Summary

Introduction

As the most common malignancy and the primary cause of tumor death in women around the world, breast cancer accounts for 25% of overall cancer cases and 15% female cancer deaths [1]. Over the past few years, the application of preventive measures, the early detection and diagnosis, and timely treatment for breast cancer have contributed to the significant reduction in death [4]. The main treatments of breast cancer include surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy [6,7]. Due to the complex pathogeny of breast cancer, more and more attention is being paid to the prognosis of patients with breast c 2017 The Author(s).

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