title: Role of polysomy 17 in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder: immunohistochemical study of HER2/neu expression and fish analysis of c-erbB-2 gene and chromosome 17.
abstract: This study investigates the potential clinical significance of c-erbB-2 gene and chromosome 17 alterations by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis and HER2/neu overexpression by immunohistochemical staining in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of urinary bladder correlating the results with tumor stage and grade categories and with clinical behavior. Sixty-three cases of TCC retrieved from the files of 2 institutions were analyzed for chromosome 17 aberrations and c-erbB-2 amplification by FISH analysis and evaluated immunohistochemically for HER2/neu overexpression. Five tumors were G1, 29 intermediate grade (G2), and 29 tumors high grade (G3); 32 tumors had stage Ta, 18 tumors T1, and 13 tumors T2. We found polysomy of chromosome 17 in 58.7% of TCC with average chromosome copy number >2.26; increased number of HER2/neu gene copy was observed in 66.7% of tumors. C-erbB-2 amplification occurred in 6.3% of tumors. Immunohistochemically, 60.3% of TCC overexpressed HER2/neu and 39.7% of tumors were negative. All tumors with polysomy showed simultaneously increase of HER2/neu gene copy number of which 34/37 with protein overexpression. A statistically significant correlation between polysomy of chromosome 17 and tumor stage (P = .0003) and tumor grade (P < .0001) was found; polysomy was not seen in G1 tumors; however, 8/29 G2 tumors and 29/29 G3 tumors revealed polysomy of chromosome 17; in 8/32 Ta tumors, 14/18 T1 and 13/13 of deeply invasive tumors (T2) polysomy 17 was observed. Moreover, it was found that 7 superficial tumors (1 Ta and 6 T1) showed high polysomy with average of chromosome 17 copy number > or =3.76 as observed in all invasive tumors. The data suggest that although HER2/neu amplification, found in high grade and invasive tumors, is a rare event in TCC, polysomy of chromosome 17 is an important factor correlated with tumor stage and grade categories and could be considered a molecular marker of tumor progression with interesting diagnostic implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomorphological and Functional Sciences, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simonetti
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciancia
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Altieri
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Insabato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D018628:Gene Dosage; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases