title: HER-2 and TOP2A coamplification in urinary bladder cancer.
abstract: HER-2/NEU is one of the most frequently amplified oncogenes and a potential therapeutic target in bladder cancer. In breast cancer, the adjacent TOP2A gene, the molecular target for several anticancer drugs, is frequently coamplified together with HER-2. To study the amplification and expression of TOP2A and HER-2 and associations with tumor phenotype and clinical outcome in bladder cancer, a tissue microarray containing 2,317 bladder tumor samples was analyzed by FISH and immunohistochemistry. Overall amplification frequencies were 6.3% for HER-2 and 1.5% for TOP2A. Amplifications were most frequently seen in advanced-stage (pT2-4) tumors (HER-2 13.8%, TOP2A 3.4%). Of HER-2-amplified tumors, 56% also had alterations of TOP2A, including 14.7% coamplifications, 33.3% gains and 8% deletions. Only 17.6% of TOP2A amplifications occurred independently of HER-2 alterations. Both HER-2 and TOP2A amplifications were significantly associated with advanced tumor stage (HER-2 p < 0.0001, TOP2A p = 0.0218), high grade (p < 0.0001 for both) and protein overexpression (p < 0.0001 for both). TOP2A amplification and overexpression were linked to shortened survival in muscle-invasive tumors (p = 0.0042 and 0.0077, respectively). In summary, our data suggest that HER-2 amplifications are frequently linked to alterations of the TOP2A gene in bladder cancer. The anatomy of the 17q12-q21 amplicon may be important for response to therapies targeting HER-2 or TOP2A.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Pathology and Urologic Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. ronald_simon_de@yahoo.de
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Atefy
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fijan
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bruderer
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wilber
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mihatsch
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gasser
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sauter
mesh_terms: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D002455:Cell Division; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D018734:Genes, erbB-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D000075223:Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D000075223:Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C000618811:TOP2A protein, human