Abstract
Purpose
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) assesment is important for patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC) to determine trastuzumab therapy is being considered. A study was performed to evaluate the rate of HER2 positivity in patients with primary gastric cancer and to assess the relationship between HER2-positive and Borrmann classification.
Patients and methods
Four hundred and sixty-one patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer were confirmed as having adenocarcinoma between 2005 and 2016. HER2 status was assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Tissues were considered to be HER2-positive when assessment revealed either an IHC score of 3+ or IHC score 2+ accompanied by a positive FISH result.
Results
The HER2-positive rate was significantly higher in men than in women (19% vs 9%; p=0.006). In our study, HER2-positive gastric tumors with differentiated histology were significantly higher. The proportion of HER2-positive gastric tumors of Borrmann classification III or IV was significantly higher than tumors classified as I or II.
Conclusions
HER2-positive gastric cancer tends to be associated with male gender, differentiated histology, and Borrmann tumor classification of III or IV.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank all the people who helped with this study.
Disclosure
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist in this work.