title: HER2 Status in Gastric Cancer: Comparison between Primary and Distant Metastatic Disease.
abstract: HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) assessment in histological samples of gastric cancer is essential to determine which patients might benefit from trastuzumab therapy. HER2 is often evaluated in primary tumor even if trastuzumab therapy is used to treat metastatic disease. However, the exact relationship in terms of HER2 status between primary and metastatic tumors has not been fully clarified. We aimed to evaluate the HER2 status concordance between primary gastric cancer and corresponding distant metastasis. HER2 status was evaluated by IHC (immunohistochemistry) and/or FISH ( fluorescence in situ hybridization) in 41 patients in primary gastric cancer and in paired metastasis. HER2 was assessed according scoring criteria applied in clinical approach. HER2 positivity was found in 14,6 % primary tumors and in 24,4%corresponding metastasis. HER2 concordance rate between primary and metastasis was 80,5 % (K-value = 0,388). Eight/41 (19,5 %)cases resulted discordant: 6 patients with metastatic HER2 positive lesions were found HER2 negative in primary cancers while 2 patient HER2 positive in primary lesion showed a negative conversion in metastasis. Our results showed a good concordance in terms of HER2 status between primary and metastatic lesions, as well as in biopsy and surgical removed specimens. However, the higher rate of HER2 positive status found in metastatic lesions underlined the importance of HER2 assessment in all samples obtained from different sites of gastric cancer disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Michelina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy. g.perrone@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perrone
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Righi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rabitti
authors.affiliation: Endoscopic Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Matteo
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Pierfilippo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Crucitti
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Damiano
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caputo
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.affiliation: Oncology Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tonini
authors.affiliation: Oncology Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onetti Muda
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000068878:Trastuzumab / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D000068878:Trastuzumab; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human
keywords: FISH; Gastric cancer; HER2; Immunoistochemistry; Metastatic disease