title: HER-2/neu overexpression detected by immunohistochemistry in soft tissue sarcomas.
abstract: Sarcomas currently represent 1% of adult malignancies and 15% of pediatric malignancies. To determine the prevalence of HER-2/neu overexpression by the histologic type and to identify a possible predictive role in patients with sarcoma, we performed a retrospective study on subjects with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of a soft tissue sarcoma. HER-2/neu overexpression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed on paraffin-embedded specimens. An IHC score of 2+ or greater was considered positive for overexpression. Two hundred seventy-three patients with soft tissue sarcoma were identified (164 females, 109 males) with a mean age of 56 (range: 1-93). The most common tumors identified were malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) (18.3%), dermatofibrosarcoma (DFS) (16.1%), leiomyosarcoma (13.2%) and carcinosarcomas (CS) (7.3%). Of the 273 specimens, 29 (10.6%) revealed HER-2/neu overexpression. CS, MFH, and DFS specimens showed the highest incidence of HER-2/neu overexpression (40%, 26%, and 18.2%, respectively). The incidence of HER-2/neu overexpression was found to be significantly higher in patients with a survival of less than 8 months (p = 0.035). This demonstrates that HER-2/neu overexpression is preferentially seen in certain soft tissue sarcomas, and when present is associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with sarcoma. Further studies would delineate whether HER-2/neu overexpression renders sarcomas chemoresistant and thus adversely affects outcome. In addition, there may be a role for Herceptin (trastuzumab) alone, or in combination with conventional therapy, in patients with CS, MHF, and DFS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of North Dakota School of Medicine, Fargo, ND 58102, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knox
authors.forename: Apar Kishor
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ganti
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Hebert
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Ketki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tendulkar
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Potti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002296:Carcinosarcoma / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018223:Dermatofibrosarcoma / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018219:Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D007890:Leiomyosarcoma / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases