Correlation of cervical carcinoma c-erb B-2 oncogene with cell proliferation parameters in patients treated with radiation therapy for cervical carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Although c-erb B-2 oncoprotein expression (CerbB-OPE) is believed to be associated with tumor cell proliferation and prognosis, the correlation between CerbB-OPE and cell proliferation parameters has not been fully analyzed.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical studies were performed on 64 cervical carcinoma patients treated with radiation therapy. Prognosis was analyzed by CerbB-OPE, growth fraction determined with Ki-67 immunohistochemistry (Ki-GF), and the mitotic index of proliferating cell population (pMI).


RESULTS
CerbB-OPE was observed on the cell membrane of carcinoma cells. Positivity of CerbB-OPE, which was 42.4% in total, increased significantly with stage progression. No significant differences were observed among histologic subtypes. Mean total Ki-GF and pMI were 36% and 2.5%, respectively. Mean Ki-GF for CerbB(+) patients was 26.2%, which was significantly lower than the 38.3% for CerbB(-) patients (P < 0.01). The mean pMI for CerbB(+) patients was 3.7%, which was significantly higher than the 2% for CerbB(-) patients (P < 0.05). The 5-year survival rates of CerbB(+) patients and CerbB(-) patients were 45.1% and 75.6%, respectively, indicating that CerbB(+) patients showed significantly poorer survival than CerbB(-) patients (P < 0.01). The difference in survival was due mainly to local recurrence rather than distant metastasis. There were significant correlations between prognosis and Ki-GF and pMI.


CONCLUSIONS
The poor prognosis of patients with cervical carcinoma with CerbB-OPE was due to local recurrences after radiation therapy. The correlations of CerbB-OPE with Ki-GF and pMI suggest that c-erb B-2 oncoprotein may play an important role in the cell proliferation status of cervical carcinoma.
Nakano
T
T
Division of Radiation Medicine, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan.
Oka
K
K
Ishikawa
A
A
Morita
S
S
D002455:Cell Division; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D008940:Mitotic Index; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy