title: Does c-erbB-2 expression have a role in medulloblastoma prognosis?
abstract: The prognosis of patients with medulloblastoma has remained same for the last two decades. This study evaluated the role of c-erbB-2 expression in medulloblastoma as a prognostic marker. Fifty cases of medulloblastomas were investigated for the expression of c-erbB-2 protein using immunohistochemistry. The expression of c-erbB-2 was correlated with age, histology and disease-free survival (DFS). Thirty-five (70%) tumors were c-erbB-2 positive. Immunoreactivity for c-erbB-2 receptor was observed as mixed cytoplasmic and membrane positivity of tumour cells. The mean DFS in c-erbB-2 positive cases was 19.81 months compared to 48.33 months in c-erbB-2 negative cases. c-erbB-2 positivity was found to be an independent predictor of poor outcome in medulloblastoma (p value < 0.05). No correlation of c-erbB-2 expression was observed with the age of patient and the histological type of tumour. Additionally, c-erbB-4 expression was also evaluated in these tumours. Thirty-three cases showed co-expression of c-erbB-2 and c-erbB-4 proteins. However, c-erbB-4 expression alone was not associated with poor outcome, whereas its co-expression with c-erbB-2 was associated with shorter DFS (p < 0.05).
authors.affiliation: Department of Histopathology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012.
authors.forename: Munita Meenu
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bal
authors.forename: Bishan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Das Radotra
authors.forename: Radhika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.forename: Suresh C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D066247:Receptor, ErbB-4
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D066247:Receptor, ErbB-4; C587689:ERBB4 protein, human