title: Her-2/neu amplification and breast cancer survival: results from the Shanghai breast cancer study.
abstract: Her-2/neu is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family that has been found to be overexpressed or amplified in approximately 20-30% of breast cancers. Negative prognosticators and a shortened survival have been shown to be associated with these changes in Her-2/neu, but previous studies have consisted of predominantly Caucasian populations. Additionally, chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) has been suggested to be a potential alternative to fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), the expensive and labor-intensive gold standard assay currently used for Her-2/neu amplification. This study evaluated breast cancer samples from 313 Chinese women participating in the Shanghai breast cancer study, of which 100 (32%) were found to have Her-2/neu amplification by either FISH or CISH methodologies. After a mean follow-up period of 6.67 years, Her-2/neu amplification was found to be significantly associated with an increased hazard of death, regardless of which assay was used to detect amplification. Patients with Her-2/neu amplification were approximately 60% more likely to die of the disease (HR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.0-2.6) than patients without amplification, even after adjusting for age, stage, menopausal status, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and tamoxifen treatment. Furthermore, the negative prognostic effect of Her-2/neu varied by cancer stage, with greater risks of death evident among later stage patients. This study supports a negative prognostic role for Her-2/neu in breast cancer survival among a Chinese population, irrespective of whether FISH or CISH is used to detect amplification of the Her-2/neu gene.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beeghly-Fadiel
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: Xiao-Ou
authors.initials: XO
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Qiuyin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Deming
authors.forename: Yu-Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality*; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases