title: Prognostic significance of HER3 and HER4 protein expression in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine-Propaedeutic, Athens University Medical School, Attikon university Hospital, Athens, Greece. panteleimon.kountourakis@yale.edu
authors.forename: Panteleimon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kountourakis
authors.forename: Kitty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pavlakis
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Psyrri
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rontogianni
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiros
authors.forename: Efstratios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Patsouris
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pectasides
authors.forename: Theofanis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Economopoulos
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: C587689:ERBB4 protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D020893:Receptor, ErbB-3; D066247:Receptor, ErbB-4