Relation between HER-2 gene expression and prognostic prostate cancer parameters in trus guided biopsies

Abstract

Introduction: Prostate carcinoma is the most common type of cancer and the second lethal cancer in men. Overexpression of Her2-neu gene affects the growth and prognosis of some tumors. HER2 gene amplification is seen in about one-third of prostatic adenocarcinoma cases.it also seems to correlate with androgen independence of the prostate tumors. We evaluated the HER2-neu expression in prostate cancer and its relation with known prognostic factors, in this study. Material and Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was used to evaluate the expression of Her2-neu in 60 cases of prostate carcinoma. The relation between HER2-neu expression and prognostic factors of prostatic carcinoma was evaluated,which included serum PSA values , number of core involvement, high percentage of core involvement,Gleason score,Gleason grade,extra prostatic extension of the tumoral cells and tumor volume.Results: Among 60 patients included in our study ,Her2-neu was negative in 49 (81.7%) cases (zero score in 35 cases and score 1+ in 14 cases) , and a weakly positive expression (score 2+) was seen in 11 (%18/3) cases.Among evaluated factors, tumor volume was the only factor which significantly correlated with Her2-neu expression.Conclusion:The rate of Her2-neu expression was not high in our patients. Among various variables evaluated in our study,only tumor volume had significant statistical correlation with the expression of Her2-neu. According to low expression of Her2-neu in evaluated specimens in this study, it is necessary to conduct more studies to confirm the relationship of her2-neu and the known prognostic factors of prostate carcinoma.