Association between hormone receptors and HER-2/neu is age-related.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between hormone receptors and HER-2/neu in different age groups of women with breast cancers.


METHODS
A total of 1036 women with breast cancers were recruited. All the patients were divided into nine groups. The expression of hormone receptors and HER-2/neu was studied by IHC, while FISH test was used to determine HER-2/neu status in cases scored IHC 2+. The association between hormone receptors and HER-2/neu in different age groups was evaluated using the χ(2) test. Multivariate analysis was used to find out the independent factors predicting HER-2/neu amplification. Significant findings: The expression of ER and PR was inversely correlated with HER-2/neu status in women aged >40 years. By multivariate analysis, as far as the overall groups were concerned, PR, lymph node status and tumor grade were independently associated with HER-2/neu; Considering the younger age group (≤ 40), the only predictor for HER-2/neu was the tumor grade; Considering the older age group (>40), tumor grade, PR status, tumor size and lymph node status were associated with HER-2/neu overexpression.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that the association between ER, PR and HER-2/neu is age-related. The negative relationship is only applied for women aged >40 years.
Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China.
Bo
B
Wang
Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China.
Xiaoling
X
Wang
Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University Hangzhou, China.
Yinying
Y
Zou
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis*; D012307:Risk Factors; D047368:Tumor Burden
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human
ER; HER-2/neu; PR; breast cancer