title: Correlation between HER2 gene amplification and protein overexpression through fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry in breast carcinoma patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In India, the incidence of breast cancer has increased in the urban population, with 1 in every 22 women diagnosed with breast cancer. It is important to know the HER2/neu gene status for a better prognostication of these patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for determining HER2/neu alteration in breast carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 188 histologically proven breast carcinoma cases between the years 2007 and 2011 were retrospectively analyzed on the paraffin tissue sections by both IHC and FISH techniques. FISH for HER2/neu gene amplification was performed on cases where the IHC status was already known and the results were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 64 (30%) patients were found to be amplified and the remaining 124 (65.9%) cases were found to be unamplified through FISH. Patients observed with 3+ reading on IHC were later confirmed as unamplified in 29.5% cases through FISH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It has been confirmed with the present study that IHC is a prudent first-step technique to screen tissue samples for HER2/neu gene status, but should be supplemented with the FISH technique especially in equivocal cases.
authors: Transplant Immunology, Molecular Biology and Transfusion Medicine, Apollo Hospitals, Sarita Vihar, Delhi Mathura Road, New Delhi, India.
authors: R N
authors: RN
authors: Makroo
authors: Mohit
authors: M
authors: Chowdhry
authors: Manoj
authors: M
authors: Kumar
authors: Priyanka
authors: P
authors: Srivastava
authors: Richa
authors: R
authors: Tyagi
authors: Preeti
authors: P
authors: Bhadauria
authors: Sumaid
authors: S
authors: Kaul
authors: Ramesh
authors: R
authors: Sarin
authors: P K
authors: PK
authors: Das
authors: Harsh
authors: H
authors: Dua
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods*; D007194:India; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D010336:Pathology / Q000379:methods*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human