title: Proto-oncogene HER-2 in normal, dysplastic and tumorous feline mammary glands: an immunohistochemical and chromogenic in situ hybridization study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Feline mammary carcinoma has been proposed as a natural model of highly aggressive, hormone-independent human breast cancer. To further explore the utility of the model by adding new similarities between the two diseases, we have analyzed the oncogene HER-2 status at both the protein and the gene levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples from 30 invasive carcinomas, 7 benign lesions and two normal mammary glands were analyzed. Tumour features with prognostic value were recorded. The expression of protein HER-2 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and the number of gene copies by means of DNA chromogenic in situ hybridization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immunohistochemical HER-2 protein overexpression was found in 40% of feline mammary carcinomas, a percentage higher to that observed in human breast carcinoma. As in women, feline tumours with HER-2 protein overexpression had pathological features of high malignancy. However, amplification of HER-2 was detected in 16% of carcinomas with protein overexpression, a percentage much lower than that observed in their human counterpart.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Feline mammary carcinoma would be a suitable natural model of that subset of human breast carcinomas with HER-2 protein overexpression without gene amplification.
authors: Departamento de Anatomía Patológica Comparada, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus Universitario de Rabanales, Carretera de Madrid- Cádiz Km 396 14014 Córdoba, Spain. jordas@jccm.es
authors: Javier
authors: J
authors: Ordás
authors: Yolanda
authors: Y
authors: Millán
authors: Rafaela
authors: R
authors: Dios
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Reymundo
authors: Juana Martín
authors: JM
authors: de Las Mulas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human