Overexpression of HER-2/neu is not a risk factor in ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the significance of the expression of HER-2/neu as a prognostic factor, we retrospectively examined its overexpression rates chiefly in ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma (CCA) and their relationships with FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis, and prognosis.


METHODS
In addition to 90 specimens of CCA (stage I, 52; stage II, 7; stage III, 28; stage IV, 3) obtained between 1987 and 2002, 19 specimens of serous adenocarcinoma (S), 19 specimens of mucinous adenocarcinoma (M), and 19 specimens of endometrioid adenocarcinoma (E) collected at initial surgery were studied. The expression of HER-2/neu was immunohistologically scored on a scale of 0 to 3+ according to the HercepTest scoring system, and 2+ and 3+ were regarded as overexpression. The relationship between HER-2/neu overexpression and outcome was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. The relationship with advanced-stage cancer was analyzed by Fisher's exact test. The relationships with lymph node metastasis and histologic types were compared by the t test.


RESULTS
The rate of HER-2/neu overexpression in CCA was 45.6% (0, 1+, 2+, and 3+ in 14, 35, 36, and 5 cases, respectively), and no differences in the overexpression rate were noted among histologic types: 52.7% in S, 42.1% in M, and 26.4% in E. In CCA, no association was observed between HER-2/neu overexpression and cumulative survival rate (P = 0.5708), FIGO stage (P = 0.5147), or lymph node metastasis (P = 0.3624).


CONCLUSIONS
The absence in CCA of an association between HER-2/neu overexpression and outcome, stage, or lymph node metastasis indicates that HER-2/neu overexpression is not a prognostic risk factor.
Tanabe
Hiroshi
H
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aoto Hospital, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. htanabe@siren.ocn.ne.jp
Nishii
Hiroshi
H
Sakata
Akihiko
A
Suzuki
Keitaro
K
Mori
Yukiko
Y
Shinozaki
Hideo
H
Watanabe
Akihiko
A
Ochiai
Kazuhiko
K
Yasuda
Makoto
M
Tanaka
Tadao
T
D018262:Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases