title: No strong association between HER-2/neu protein overexpression and gene amplification in high-grade invasive urothelial carcinomas.
abstract: The generation of urothelial carcinoma is caused by the accumulation of various molecular changes, as in most malignancies. There are conflicting data about the status of HER-2/neu oncogene in urothelial carcinomas. The aim of this study was to determine the status of HER-2/neu oncogene in high-grade invasive urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder both in protein and DNA level. We evaluated HER-2/neu protein overexpression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and gene amplification by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and real-time quantitative PCR in paraffin-embedded samples of high-grade invasive urothelial carcinoma obtained from 36 patients. Polysomy 17 was also assessed by FISH. Immunohistochemically, HER-2/neu protein overexpression was observed in 22 (61.1%) tumors (ten tumors with score 3+ and 12 with score 2+). Fourteen of 36 tumors (38.9%) were evaluated as negative (score 0 or 1+). Complete concordance between FISH and the PCR was seen in all of the samples scored as 0 and 1+ by IHC. HER-2/neu gene amplification was observed in three of 27 (11.1%) tumors by FISH (nine samples were non-informative) and in eight of 36 (22.2%) tumors by the PCR. The complete concordance between HER2-2/neu protein overexpression and gene amplification was seen only in three of 27 tumors. Polysomy 17 was seen in nine tumors (33.3%). The results indicated that, in contrast to breast cancer, there was no strong association between HER-2/neu overexpression and gene amplification in invasive urothelial carcinomas, and polysomy 17 was higher in tumors showing HER-2/neu overexpression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Vildan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caner
authors.forename: Nilay Sen
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: Fusun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Duzcan
authors.forename: N Lale Satiroglu
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Tufan
authors.forename: E Canan
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Kelten
authors.forename: Sevil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zencir
authors.forename: Yavuz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dodurga
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bagci
authors.forename: S Ender
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Duzcan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000235:genetics; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D019459:Urothelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases