Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 7, 2013; 19(21): 3316-3323
Published online Jun 7, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i21.3316
Differences in HER2 over-expression between proximal and distal gastric cancers in the Chinese population
Xiang-Shan Fan, Jie-Yu Chen, Chang-Feng Li, Yi-Fen Zhang, Fan-Qing Meng, Hong-Yan Wu, An-Ning Feng, Qin Huang
Xiang-Shan Fan, Jie-Yu Chen, Yi-Fen Zhang, Fan-Qing Meng, Hong-Yan Wu, An-Ning Feng, Department of Pathology, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Chang-Feng Li, Department of Statistics, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210046, Jiangsu Province, China
Qin Huang, Department of Pathology, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, Jiangsu Province, China
Qin Huang, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School, West Roxbury, MA 02132, United States
Author contributions: Fan XS and Chen JY contributed equally to this work; Fan XS, Chen JY and Huang Q designed the research project; Fan XS, Chen JY, Zhang YF, Meng FQ and Wu HY performed the research; Wu HY performed the immunostaining; Li CF and Feng AN analyzed the data; and Fan XS, Chen JY and Huang Q wrote the paper.
Supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81101815; the Science and Technology Development Project of Medicine in Nanjing, No. YKK08064; Jiangsu Health International Exchange Program and Young Talents Training Project of Health in Nanjing
Correspondence to: Qin Huang, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School, 1400 VFW Parkway, West Roxbury, MA 02132, United States. qinhuang0122@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-857-2035020 Fax: +1-857-2035623
Received: January 4, 2013
Revised: February 22, 2013
Accepted: April 9, 2013
Published online: June 7, 2013
Abstract

AIM: To investigate HER2 expression and its correlation with clinicopathological variables between proximal and distal gastric cancers (GC) in the Chinese population.

METHODS: Immunostaining of HER2 was performed and scored on a scale of 0-3 in 957 consecutive GC cases, according to the revised scoring criteria of HercepTestTM as used in the ToGA trial. Correlations between HER2 expression and clinicopathologic variables of proximal (n = 513) and distal (n = 444) GC were investigated.

RESULTS: Our results showed that HER2 expression was significantly higher in the proximal than in distal GC (P < 0.05). Overall, HER2 expression was significantly higher in male patients (P < 0.01), the Lauren intestinal type (P < 0.001), low-grade (P < 0.001) and pM1 (P < 0.01) diseases, respectively. There was a significant difference in HER2 expression among some pTNM stages (P < 0.05). In contrast, HER2 expression in the distal GC was significantly higher in male patients (P < 0.001), low-grade histology (P < 0.001), the Lauren intestinal type（P < 0.001), and pM1 (P < 0.001). In the proximal GC, however, higher HER2 expression scores were observed only in tumors with low-grade histology (P < 0.001) and the Lauren intestinal type (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: HER2 over-expression in GC of Chinese patients was significantly more common in proximal than in distal GC, and significantly correlated with the Lauren intestinal type and low-grade histology in both proximal and distal GC, and with pM1 disease and male gender in distal GC.

Keywords: HER2, Gastric cancer, Immunohistochemistry, Clinicopathology

Core tip: In this study, immunostaining of HER2 was performed and scored according to the revised scoring criteria of HercepTestTM used in the ToGA trial in a very large cohort of gastric cancers (GC) patients (957 cases). Our results revealed that HER2 over-expression in GC of Chinese patients was significantly more common in proximal than in distal GC, and was significantly correlated with the Lauren intestinal type and low-grade histology in both proximal and distal GC, and with pM1 disease and male gender in distal GC.