title: Tissue Microarray Is a Reliable Tool for the Evaluation of HER2 Amplification in Breast Cancer.
abstract: We examined an economical method for evaluating the amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene in breast cancer specimens.
  
  
  
  We compared HER2 amplification determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on whole-tissue (WT) blocks used for diagnostic and on tissue microarray (TMA) sections for a cohort of 521 consecutive patients with breast cancer. In a subset of 116 patients, we examined HER2 concordance from the WT section and a TMA section from a randomly chosen additional block (a proxy of the core biopsy).
  
  
  
  Overall concordance for HER2 amplification between WT and TMA sections was 98.2%, and between sections from WT and from the additional block was 99.0%.
  
  
  
  The high concordance rates support the use of TMA for the evaluation of HER2 amplification in breast cancer and suggest that FISH can be used to assess HER2 using core biopsies.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Centre at Laval University, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Oncology Axis, CHU of Quebec Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Furrer
authors.affiliation: Deschênes-Fabia Center for Breast Diseases, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada Pathology Service, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada Department of Molecular Biology, Medical Biochemistry and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Deschênes-Fabia Center for Breast Diseases, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada Pathology Service, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.affiliation: Oncology Axis, CHU of Quebec Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Deschênes-Fabia Center for Breast Diseases, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanschagrin
authors.affiliation: Oncology Axis, CHU of Quebec Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Deschênes-Fabia Center for Breast Diseases, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Provencher
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Centre at Laval University, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Oncology Axis, CHU of Quebec Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada Deschênes-Fabia Center for Breast Diseases, Saint-Sacrement Hospital, Quebec City, QC, Canada caroline.diorio@crchudequebec.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Diorio
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D062005:Biopsy, Large-Core Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D005784:Gene Amplification; D018734:Genes, erbB-2; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
chemical_list: D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human
keywords: ASCO/CAP guidelines; Breast cancer; FISH; HER2 status; TMA; trastuzumab