HER2 status in molecular apocrine breast cancer: associations with clinical, pathological, and molecular features.
Molecular apocrine breast cancer (MABC) is a distinct subtype of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between HER2 status and clinicopathologic characteristics of MABCs from Chinese Han cohort. A cohort of 90 MABC patients were enrolled. Immunohistochemical method was performed to analyze the molecular expression, and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) amplification was verified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). By studying these 90 MABC cases, the majority of studied patients were premenopausal young women (median age 48 yr) with high grade tumors. We also found that MABCs had high positive expression rates of HER2, CK8, CD44, CD166, p53 and BRCA1, the elevated Ki-67 labeling index, and favorable prognosis. There was a significantly higher incidence of lymph node metastasis and lower CD166 positive rate in HER2-negative patients compared to HER2-positive patients (54.5% vs. 37.0%, P = 0.044 and 72.7% vs. 91.3%, P = 0.021, respectively). The CK5/6 and EGFR expression rates were significant higher in HER2-negative cases than in HER2-positive cases, suggesting that there is overlap between MABC with HER2-negative phenotype and basal-like breast cancer. In addition, HER2 positive was found to be significantly associated a poor overall survival in MABCs. In conclusion, HER2 are highly expressed, and HER2 positivity could be considered as a significant biomarker of poor prognosis in MABC. The results also suggest that a subtype tumor with distinct patterns of molecule expression depending on HER2 status presented in MABC.
Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University Nanjing 210011, China ; Clinical Molecular Diagnostic Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University Nanjing 210011, China.
Wenwen
W
Guo
Department of Breast Surgery, Xuzhou Central Hospital Xuzhou 221009, China.
Wei
W
Wang
Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University Nanjing 210029, China.
Yun
Y
Zhu
Department of Pathology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Nanjing 210028, China.
Xiaojing
X
Zhu
Department of Pathology, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Nanjing 210028, China.
Zhongyuan
Z
Shi
Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University Nanjing 210011, China.
Yan
Y
Wang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human
FISH; HER2; basal-like breast cancer; biomarker; molecular apocrine breast cancer