Her2 expression can predict the survival of patients with salivary duct carcinoma

Abstract

Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is a high-grade malignant tumor that mainly develops in the salivary glands, and SDC patients have a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%. Thirteen SDC patients (11 male and 2 female, average age 67.2 years) with primary salivary gland carcinoma who received primary treatment in our department from 2005 to 2016. Although markers such as androgen receptors and gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 are effective in diagnosing SDC, there are no effective tumor-specific markers for prognosis prediction. Therefore, we investigated the expressions of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2), Ki-67, EGFR, p16, P53 and PD-L1, and examined their prognostic effect. Multivariate analysis showed that high Her2 expression was an exacerbating prognostic factor. In the future, the use of molecular-targeted drugs and immune checkpoint inhibitors for salivary gland malignancies may become more frequent. Her2 expression could be used as a predictor of prognosis.