Middle East Journal of Cancer

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Indexing and Abstracting

Related Links

FAQ

Peer Review Process

News

Forms

Journal Metrics

HER2/neu: A Prognostic Marker for Ovarian Carcinoma

Document Type : Original Article(s)

Authors

Oncology Department, Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Ovarian cancer is the second most prevalent gynecological malignancy. Its prognosis is poor with a five-year survival rate of <50% with the available therapies. There is a constant need for new biological markers. Therefore, we conducted the present study to evaluate the association between human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) neu and the clinicopathological features of epithelial ovarian cancer.
Method: A prospective, observational analytic study was conducted at Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi between November 2018 and October 2019. It was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative correlational study design.
Results: We recruited 90 patients. The mean age of diagnosis was 53 ± 8.022 years; 81.1% (n = 73) had raised pretreatment CA-125 levels with stage III (56.7%, n = 51) and grade III (54.4%, n = 49) at presentation. It was seen that 24.4% (n = 22) of the tumors expressed HER2/neu, 65.6% (n = 59) were negative and 10% (n = 9) were equivocal. 72.2% had platinum sensitive disease. According to HER2/neu status, 20% HER2/neu positive patients had platinum sensitive disease and 3.3% had resistant disease; meanwhile, 47.8% HER2/neu negative patients had platinum sensitive disease and 10% were platinum resistant. HER2/neu expression was significantly associated with grade (P = 0.040) and pretreatment CA-125 levels (P = 0.032) whereas our study failed to show a significant association between stage (P = 0.383) and chemotherapy response (P = 0.055).
Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that HER2/neu was positive in 24.4% of the patients, which was significantly associated with grade and pretreatment CA-125 level. However, a longer follow-up is needed for survival analysis and establishment of HER2/neu as a prognostic marker for epithelial ovarian cancer.

Keywords

Full Text

How to cite this article:

Arif S, Samad FA, Syed AS, Khan A, Riaz A, Zahid R. HER2/neu: A prognostic marker for ovarian carcinoma. Middle East J Cancer. 2022;13(3):449-57. doi: 10.30476/mejc.2022.88214.1465.

References
  1. American Cancer Society. Facts & Figures 2019. American Cancer Society [Internet]. 2019;1–76. Accessed date: [23, January, 2020] Availabe at: https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics/all-cancer-facts-figures/cancer-facts-figures-2019
  2. Malik IA. A prospective study of clinico-pathological features of epithelial ovarian cancer in Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc. 2002;52(4):155-8.
  3. Wang D, Zhu H, Ye Q, Wang C, Xu Y. Prognostic value of KIF2A and HER2-Neu overexpression in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(8):e2803. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000002803.
  4. Jafri A, Rizvi S. Frequency of Her2/Neu Protein expression in ovarian epithelial cancers. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2017;27(9):544-6.
  5. Teplinsky E, Muggia F. Targeting HER2 in ovarian and uterine cancers: challenges and future directions. Gynecol Oncol. 2014;135(2):364-70. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2014.09.003.
  6. Cress RD, Chen YS, Morris CR, Petersen M, Leiserowitz GS. Characteristics of long-term survivors of epithelial ovarian cancer. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2015;126(3):491–7.
  7. Szender JB, Emmons T, et al. Impact of ascites volume on clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer: A cohort study. Gynecologic Oncology. 2017;146(3):491–7.
  8. Teplinsky E, Muggia F. EGFR and HER2: is there a role in ovarian cancer? Translational Cancer Research. 2015;4(1):107–17.
  9. Omar N, Yan B, Salto-Tellez M. HER2: An emerging biomarker in non-breast and non-gastric cancers. Pathogenesis. 2015;2(3). p. 1–9. doi.org/10.1016/j.pathog.2015.05.002.
  10. Kim SK, Cho NH. HER2-positive mucinous adenocarcinomas of the ovary have an expansile invasive pattern associated with a favorable prognosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology. 2014;7(7):4222–30.
  11. Demir L, Yigit S et al. Hormone receptor, HER2/NEU and EGFR expression in ovarian carcinoma--is here a prognostic phenotype? Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014;15(22):9739–45.
  12. Iqbal N, Iqbal N. Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) in Cancers: Overexpression and Therapeutic Implications. Molecular Biology International. 2014;2014:1–9.
  13. Shang AQ, Wu J et al. Relationship between HER2 and JAK/STAT-SOCS3 signaling pathway and clinicopathological features and prognosis of ovarian cancer. Cancer Biology and Therapy. 2017;18(5):314–22.
  14. Yan M, Schwaederle M, Arguello D, Millis SZ, Gatalica Z, Kurzrock R. HER2 expression status in diverse cancers: review of results from 37,992 patients. Cancer and Metastasis Reviews. 2015;34(1):157–64.
  15. Li MJ, Li HR et al. [Clinical significance of targeting drug-based molecular biomarkers expression in ovarian clear cell carcinoma]. Zhonghua fu chan ke za zhi. 2017;52(12):835–43.
  16. Wolff AC, Hammond ME. et al. Recommendations for Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 testing in Breast Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists Clinical practice guideline update. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2013;31(31):3997-4013.
  17. Eisenhauer EA, Therasse P et al. New response evaluation criteria in solid tumours: revised RECIST guideline (version 1.1). Eur J Cancer. 2009 Jan;45(2):228-47. https://doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2008.10.026. PMID: 19097774.
  18. Luo H, Xu X, Ye M, Sheng B, Zhu X. The prognostic value of HER2 in ovarian cancer: A meta-analysis of observational studies. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(1):1–16.
  19. Goel S, Mehra M, Yadav A, Sharma M. A Comparative Study of HER-2 / neu Oncogene in Benign and Malignant Ovarian Tumors. International Journal of Scientific Study. 2014;2(4):50–54. http://www.ijss-sn.com/uploads/2/0/1/5/20153321/ijss_july-09
  20. Ajani M, Salami A, Awolude O, Oluwasola A, Akang E. The expression status of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 in epithelial ovarian cancer in Ibadan, Nigeria. Southern African Journal of Gynaecological Oncology. 2016;8(1):9–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/20742835.2015.1115197.
  21. Mutuiri AP, Nzioka A, Busarla SV, Sayed S, Moloo Z. Expression of p53 and HER2/Neu in Kenyan women with Primay Ovarian Carcinoma. International Journal of Gynecologic Pathology. 2016 Nov;35(6):537-543.
  22. Zidan J. EGFR and HER2 expression in ovarian cancer compared to clinical and pathological features of the patients. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2016;34(15_suppl)e23254-e23254. https://doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.34.15_suppl.e23254
  23. Telli ML, Drive BW, Chang ET, Gomez SL, Kurian AW, Ford JM, et al. Asian ethnicity and breast cancer subtypes: a study from the California Cancer Registry. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2015;127(2):471–478.
  24. Chay WY, Chew SH, Ong WS, Busmanis I, Li X, Thung S, et al. HER2 Amplification and Clinicopathological Characteristics in a Large Asian Cohort of Rare Mucinous Ovarian Cancer. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(4).
  25. Feng Z, Wen H, Bi R, Ju X, Chen X, Yang W. A clinically applicable molecular classification for high-grade serous ovarian cancer based on hormone receptor expression. Nature Publishing Group. 2016;(January):1–9.
Middle East Journal of Cancer
Volume 13, Issue 3 - Serial Number 51
July 2022
Pages 449-457
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics