Prognostic significance of HER3 and HER4 protein expression in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
BACKGROUND
Colorectal cancer remains a major cause of cancer mortality in the Western world. A limited number of studies has been conducted in respect of Her-3 and Her-4 expression and their correlation with clinical parameters and prognosis in colorectal carcinomas . In this study we sought to determine the pattern and the prognostic significance of HER-3 and HER-4 in colorectal adenocarcinoma.


METHODS
We studied HER-3 and HER-4 protein expression in106 paraffin embedded specimens of primary colorectal tumors using immunohistochemistry. The pattern and protein expression levels of HER-3 and HER-4 were correlated with several clinical and pathological parameters.


RESULTS
HER-3 staining displayed membranous and cytoplasmic expression pattern in 18 (17%) and 30 samples (28,3%), respectively. HER-4 membranous and cytoplasmic expression was found in 20 (18,9%) and 32 samples (30,2%), respectively. Specimens regarded as positive for HER-3 cytoplasmic expression were associated with moderate tumor grade (p = 0,032) and older median age (p = 0,010). Specimens regarded as positive for HER-4 membranous protein expression were associated with involved lymphnodes (p = 0,0003). Similar results were obtained when considering Her-3 and Her-4 protein expression irrespective of their cellular localization. There was no correlation between the expression of HER-3 and HER-4 and patients outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
HER-4 membranous protein expression was found to predict for lymph nodes positivity in this cohort of patients with colorectal cancer.HER-4 expression status may identify tumors with aggressive biological behavior and increased metastatic potential.
Kountourakis
Panteleimon
P
Second Department of Internal Medicine-Propaedeutic, Athens University Medical School, Attikon university Hospital, Athens, Greece. panteleimon.kountourakis@yale.edu
Pavlakis
Kitty
K
Psyrri
Amanda
A
Rontogianni
Dimitra
D
Xiros
Nikolaos
N
Patsouris
Efstratios
E
Pectasides
Dimitrios
D
Economopoulos
Theofanis
T
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D020893:Receptor, ErbB-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D066247:Receptor, ErbB-4; D016019:Survival Analysis
C587689:ERBB4 protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D020893:Receptor, ErbB-3; D066247:Receptor, ErbB-4