title: Prognosis significance of HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification in Chinese patients with curatively resected gastric cancer after the ToGA clinical trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  HER-2/neu-targeted therapy has been successfully used in advanced gastric cancer, but the role of HER-2/neu in the prognosis of gastric cancer is not yet clear. In this study, we investigated the correlation between HER-2/neu expression and amplification as well as their association with clinic outcomes in patients with curatively resected gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We constructed tissue microarray blocks containing >70% of gastric cancer tissue and matched adjacent normal gastric tissue for 227 patients. Expression of the HER-2/neu protein in these specimens was analyzed using immunohistochemical staining. Amplification of HER-2/neu was also analyzed for the same samples using fluorescence in situ hybridization. Data on clinicopathological features and relevant prognostic factors in these patients were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 227 gastric cancer samples, 11.89% were positive for HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification under the new scoring system. HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification was closely correlated to the Lauren type, degree of differentiation, tumor size and lymph node metastasis. HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification predicted poor survival in univariate analysis but not in a Cox proportional hazards model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification was not an independent predictor for survival in patients with curatively resected gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shanghai First People's Hospital Affiliated Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200080, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhaolai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Qingyi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Liwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases