The differential expression of the HER-2/neu oncogene among high-risk human papillomavirus-infected glandular lesions of the uterine cervix.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to examine the relationship between HER-2/neu expression and human papillomavirus infection in cervical glandular neoplasia.


METHODS
Cases of cervical adenocarcinoma in situ and invasive adenocarcinoma were selected for study. Human papillomavirus typing was performed by in situ hybridization. HER-2/neu was detected by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Fisher's exact test was used to assess for statistical significance.


RESULTS
Fifteen cases of adenocarcinoma in situ and invasive adenocarcinoma were analyzed. In situ hybridization detected HER-2/neu messenger ribonucleic acid in 8 cases, whereas immunohistochemistry detected protein in 5 cases. Overall, HER-2/neu activity was present in 10 cases (66.7%). HER-2/neu messenger ribonucleic acid was detected more commonly in lesions associated with human papillomavirus type 16 versus type 18 (85.7% vs 25.0%, p = 0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
HER-2/neu is frequently expressed in human papillomavirus-infected glandular lesions of the cervix. In situ hybridization may provide a more sensitive indicator of HER-2/neu activity over immunohistochemistry. Preferential expression of HER-2/neu messenger ribonucleic acid was detected in human papillomavirus type 16 versus type 18 lesions. Further study is warranted to examine relationships between human papillomavirus infection and HER-2/neu expression.
Roland
P Y
PY
University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35233-7333, USA.
Stoler
M H
MH
Broker
T R
TR
Chow
L T
LT
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000145:classification; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases