title: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 testing in gastric cancer: recommendations of an Asia-Pacific task force.
abstract: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) testing in gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer is an evolving area in clinical practice that has particular relevance to Asia-Pacific countries, which face a high incidence of these diseases. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that HER2-targeted therapy improves survival for patients with HER2-positive advanced disease, and drives the need for high-quality testing procedures to identify patients who will respond to treatment. However, various factors challenge day-to-day testing of gastric specimens in these countries, to a degree greater than that observed for breast specimens. Recommendations for HER2 testing of gastric cancer specimens were published as a result of the Trastuzumab for Gastric Cancer (ToGA) trial. The guidelines proposed in this manuscript build on these recommendations and emphasize local testing environments, particularly in Asia-Pacific countries. A multidisciplinary task force comprising experts from Asia-Pacific who actively work and provide education in the area was convened to assess the applicability of existing recommendations in the Asia-Pacific region. The resulting recommendations reported here highlight and clarify aspects of testing that are of particular relevance to the region, and notably emphasize multidisciplinary collaborations to optimize HER2 testing quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Center for Cancer Companion Diagnostics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Mee
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bilous
authors.forename: Kent-Man
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Beom-Su
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Woo-Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Min-Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Weiqi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D001315:Australia; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human
keywords: gastric cancer; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; immunohistochemistry; in situ hybridization; quality control