title: HER2/neu expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients is not significantly elevated.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  HER2/neu, a member of EGFR family, is over expressed in some tumors .The purpose of this study was to determine the salivary level and tissue expression of HER2/neu in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and any correlation with clinicopathologic parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  An enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to evaluate the salivary level and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to assess tissue expression of HER2/neu in 28 patients with HNSCC and 25 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The salivary levels of HER2/neu in HNSCC patients was not significantly higher than in the healthy controls (p>0.005). There was no apparent correlation in salivary HER2/neu level with clinicopathological features such as age, sex, grade, tumor size and nodal status. All HNSCC specimens were positive (membranous or/and cytoplasmic) for HER2/ neu, except one sample. Only one HNSCC specimen was stained in cytoplasm purely. All control specimens were membranous and cytoplasmic positive for HER2/neu. There was a significant difference between cytoplasmic staining in case and control groups (p-value<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our cases, no overexpression of HER2/neu was observed. Thus, our findings suggested that the use of Her-2 as a salivary marker of HNSCC cannot be recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Dental School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Yasaman
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sardari
authors.forename: Soheil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pardis
authors.forename: Azadeh Andisheh
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tadbir
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fattahi
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Purshahidi
authors.forename: Bijan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khademi
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamzavi
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human