Proportion of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 immunohistochemical expression in endometrial carcinoma and its association with variable clinical outcomes.

Abstract

Uterine cancer known as one of the most common gynecologic malignancies in developed countries, with the incidence of 14.7 per 100,000 women and the mortality rate of 2.3 per 100,000. The incidence of uterine cancer has also increased in developing countries to be the second most common gynecologic malignancy after cervical cancer. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ERBB2, formerly HER2/neu, c-erbB2), is one of a family of 4 membrane tyrosine kinases (TKs), HER2 augmentation and resultant HER2 protein overexpression have been related to important tumor cell proliferation and survival pathways, several drugs have been developed to target the pathway HER 2, and the detection of HER2 has become a routine prognostic and predictive factor in breast cancer. Uterine carcinomas, specifically adenocarcinomas, are relatively uncommon tumors that overexpress HER2/neu. Reports of the percentage of endometrial adenocarcinomas that overexpress HER2/neu have ranged between 13% and >50% with the consensus residing at approximately 20%, with approximately half of that percentage associated with gene amplification. This study aims to evaluate the proportion of HER2 overexpression in endometrial carcinoma and its correlation with other known relevant variable clinical outcomes.