Human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) in early stage uterine serous carcinoma: A multi-institutional cohort.

Abstract

6084 Background: Uterine serous carcinoma (USC) is a rare and aggressive malignancy, accounting for 40% of all endometrial cancer deaths. Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) has emerged as an important prognostic and therapeutic target in USC. Given recent randomized trial results, HER2-directed therapy is now recommended in advanced-stage or recurrent, HER2-positive disease. The significance of tumoral HER2 expression in early-stage disease has not yet been established. Methods: In this IRB-approved, retrospective, multi-institutional cohort, women diagnosed with stage I USC from 2000-2018 were identified. Patient demographic, treatment, and survival data were collected. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed for HER2 and scored 0-3+. Equivocal IHC results (2+) were further tested with in-situ hybridization (ISH) per the 2007 ASCO-CAP HER2 breast cancer guidelines. HER2 overexpression (“positive”) was defined as 3+ IHC or ISH positive. Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox-proportional hazards were used to compare survival between the cohorts. Results: In total, 173 patients with stage I USC were tested for HER2; 25% were HER2-positive, 77.4% had stage IA and 22.6% had stage IB disease. Adequate clinical follow up was available for 168 patients. There were no significant differences in age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, surgical management, sub-stage, tumor size, adjuvant therapy, or follow-up duration between the HER2-positive and negative cohorts. On univarite analysis, presence of lymph-vascular space invasion was correlated with HER2-positive tumors (p=0.003). After a median follow-up of 50 months, there were 41 (24.4%) recurrences. Significantly more recurrences were observed in the HER2-positive cohort (47.6% vs. 16.7%, p<0.001). HER2 overexpression was also associated with poorer progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) (p<0.001 and p=0.012). After adjusting for prognostic factors including sub-stage and adjuvant treatment, those with HER2-positive tumors experienced inferior PFS (aHR 3.67, 95%CI 1.92-6.98; p<0.001) and OS (aHR 2.03, 95%CI 1.03-4.01; p=0.042) compared to HER2-negative tumors. Conclusions: Uterine serous carcinoma is a poor prognostic tumor, even in patients with early-stage disease. Given its significant association with worse survival outcomes, tumoral HER2 overexpression appears to be a prognostic biomarker in women with stage I disease. These data provide rationale for clinical trials with HER2-directed therapy in early-stage uterine serous carcinoma.