J Korean Breast Cancer Soc.  1998 Jun;1(1):103-108. 10.4048/jkbcs.1998.1.1.103.

Overexpression of c-erbB2 and its Relationship with Chemotherapy in Breast Ccancer

• Koo JY
• Lee HD
• Jung WH

• KMID: 2173700
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jkbcs.1998.1.1.103

Abstract

Purpose c-erbB2 encodes 185 kDa oncoprotein tyrosine kinase activity and has homology to the epidermal growth factor. c-erbB2 proto-oncogene is found to be overexpressed in approximately 20 to 30 % of primary breast cancer and has been associated with poor prognosis and lower response to conventional chemotherapy. Materials and methods We performed a stedy on 40 infiltrating ductal breast cancer treated with primary surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. We investigated c-erbB2 expression by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded tissue using polyclonal antipeptide antibody (DAKO). We evaluated the relationships between its expression and the results after over 6 cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy including cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-FU. Results The median age at diagnosis was 43 years and the median follow-up time was 47.3 months. Thirteen (32.1%) of 40 patients showed the c-erbB2 overexpression in the external domains of protein. There were no correlations among c-erbB2 amplification and other prognostic factors such as hormonal receptors, histologic grade and tumor size. Estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor showed tendency of inverse correlation with c-erbB2 overexpression but it was not statistically significant (p>0.05). c-erbB2 positive patients showed shorter disease free survival compared to c-erbB2 negative patients in univariate analysis (p<0.05)(Kaplan Meire analysis). The patients without c-erbB2 overexpression seemed to survive longer but had no significant survival benefit (p>0.05). Conclusion These findings suggest that overexpression of c-erbB2 may be a marker of poor response to adjuvant chemotherapy with CMF regimen and may be an indicator of more aggressive therapy.

Keyword

Primary breast cancer; Adjuvant chemotherapy; erbB2 overexpression

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms
Breast*
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
Cyclophosphamide
Diagnosis
Disease-Free Survival
Drug Therapy*
Epidermal Growth Factor
Estrogens
Fluorouracil
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Methotrexate
Prognosis
Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
Proto-Oncogenes
Receptors, Progesterone
Cyclophosphamide
Epidermal Growth Factor
Estrogens
Fluorouracil
Methotrexate
Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
Receptors, Progesterone