title: HER2/neu testing in primary colorectal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anti-HER2/neu therapy is well-established in breast and gastric carcinoma. The increased understanding of this pathway led to the identification of new promising drugs in addition to trastuzumab, offering further perspectives. The role of HER2/neu in colorectal carcinoma is controversially discussed, as discrepant data has been reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here, we retrospectively assessed the prevalence of HER2/neu positivity in a large series of colorectal carcinoma, testing HER2/neu status according to current recommendations. We correlated the results to clinico-pathological data and patient survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, in 1645 primary colorectal carcinoma cases, 1.6% of the cases were HER2/neu positive. HER2/neu positivity significantly correlated with higher UICC stages (P=0.017) and lymph node metastases (P=0.029). In the subgroup of sigmoideal and rectal carcinomas, positive HER2/neu status was associated with T-category (P=0.041) and higher UICC stages (P=0.022). Although statistically not significant, HER2/neu-positive colorectal carcinomas displayed a tendency to poorer overall survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results illustrate the importance of testing HER2/neu by approved diagnostic techniques and scoring systems. We assume that although the prevalence of HER2/neu positivity in colorectal carcinoma is low, HER2/neu testing in advanced, nodal-positive colorectal carcinoma is reasonable, offering a potential target in high risk colorectal carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Mitte, Charité University Hospital, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ingold Heppner
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: H-M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Behrens
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Balschun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haag
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Röcken
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human