HER2/neu, p53, MIB1 and PAX8 immunoexpression in Primary Serous Fallopian Tube Carcinomas

Abstract

BackgroundCarcinoma of the fallopian tube is a rare gynecological malignancy. A previous review of Primary Fallopian Tube Carcinoma (PFTC) from a multi-institutional study identified several poor prognosis indicators, including the depth of invasion, advanced stage disease, tumor grade and the presence of lymph node metastases. The detection of the malignant lesion at an early stage and the identification of biomarkers with prognostic significance are the major concerns of recent studies. AimsIn this study, we have investigated the immunohistochemical expression of 4 proteins in cases of low-grade (n:5) and high-grade (n:65) serous PFTC to determine their role in PFTC prognosis. Material and methodsHER2/neu, p53, PAX8 and MIB-1 were evaluated using immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray of 70 serous PFTC and the expression was correlated to the following clinico-pathologic variants: age, grade, lymph node metastases, stage and survival. ResultsHER2/neu oncoprotein overexpression was demonstrated in 20 of 65 (31%) high-grade serous fallopian tube carcinomas. p53 was demonstrated in more than 50% (3+) of the tumor in 59 (90.7%) high-grade serous FTCs, while eight cases (12%) were moderate or weakly positive (2+). The expression of PAX8 was positive in 55 (78.5%) cases, the remaining 15 (21%) cases being negative. The outcome of the disease for patients with tumors showing HER2/neu overexpression was worse (p:0.0001). p53, MIB-1 or PAX8 failed to have a predictive value in disease outcome. ConclusionThe potential prognostic relevance of HER2/neu in tubal cancer and its potential role in the selection of patients for targeted therapy should be investigated further.