title: [Serum her-2/neu level and related factors in patients with breast cancer].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To detect serum her-2/neu level in patients with breast cancer of different stages and its relationship with tissue her-2/neu overexpression as well as other factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 120 women were alloted in this study, including 10 healthy volunteers, 31 breast benign disease patients, 53 primary breast cancer and 26 metastatic breast cancer patients. The level of serum her-2/neu was detected with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Elevated serum her-2/neu levels were observed in 0/10 healthy volunteers, 0/31 patients with benign tumor and 10/53 (18.9%) operable breast cancer patients. Serum concentration of soluble her-2/neu was correlated with tumor size (P < 0.05), but not with axillary lymph nodes nor estrogen receptor status. In patients with metastatic disease, soluble her-2/neu serum level was elevated in 61.5% (16/26) of patients, which was not correlated with the site of metastasis (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum her-2/neu level is correlated with tumor malignancy, stage and cancer load. It could be helpful in directing the treatment of recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Cancer Institute (Hospital), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Bing-he
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000097:blood*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen