Association of progesterone receptor and HER2 expressions with the survival time of patient with breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between the survival time and the expressions of progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2 in the tumor tissues of patients with breast cancer, thereby to explore the possibility of using the 2 indices as the indicator for the prognosis of the patients.


METHODS
Immunohistochemical staining for PR and HER2 was performed on paraffin embedded tumor specimens obtained from 185 patients with breast cancer, and follow-up studies were conducted and the survival time of the patients recorded.


RESULTS
In the 120 patients (64.9%) with complete followed-up data, 28 patients died (15%), with the record of the other 65 patients (35.1%) not available for this study. Immunohistochemical detection found that the positivity rates for HER2 and PR were 57.8% and 62.7% respectively in the total specimens examined, and HER2 and PR showed significant difference in their respective associations with the survival rate of the patients (P<0.01). Specifically, HER2 was inversely associated with the survival rate, to which PR was positively related. The univariant analysis suggested the hazards posed by HER2 expression to reduce the overall survival of the patients (P<0.01, OR=1.566), while PR, playing the protective role, was associated with a significantly longer overall survival time (P<0.01, OR=0.547). In the multivariate analysis, however, only PR expression was of significant prognostic value in the patients (P  0.012).


CONCLUSIONS
Both HER2 and PR can be used as independent indicators for the prognosis of patients with breast cancer, and high HER2 expression may indicate poor prognosis, while PR is associated with a longer survival time and a higher survival rate.
Mai
Guo-feng
GF
Oncology Center, Nanfang Hospital, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China. mgf@fimmu.com
Zheng
Hang
H
Luo
Rong-cheng
RC
Liao
Wang-jun
WJ
Zhang
Luo-sheng
LS
He
Xin-bin
XB
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D015996:Survival Rate
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone