[Clinical significance of Her-2/neu status in patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate gene amplification by chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) and the protein expression of Her-2/neu gene in patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) and to determine its prognostic value.

METHODS: Thirty-six patients with confirmed pathologic diagnosis of UPSC in Cancer Hospital of Fudan University from Jan. 1996 to Jan. 2006, were analysed retrospectively. CISH was performed to assess Her-2/neu gene amplification, and protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The prognostic factors were analyzed by log-rank test or Cox proportional hazard model.

RESULTS: Among 36 cases with UPSC, 13 patients (36.1%) showed moderate staining (++) to strong staining (+++) for Her-2/neu protein, while amplification of the Her-2/neu gene by CISH was observed in 4 of the 36 (11.1%) cases. Her-2/neu protein over-expression was significantly associated with advanced surgical stage and worse prognosis by univariate analysis (P=0.030 and P=0.002, respectively), while the multivariate analysis shown that only Her-2/neu protein over-expression and deep myometrial invasion were associated with a poor prognosis (P<0.05). In 13 patients with Her-2/neu protein over-expression, the mean survival period with chemotherapy was shorter than those without chemotherapy (20 vs. 42 months, P=0.370).

CONCLUSION: Her-2/neu protein over-expression is significantly associated with advanced surgical stage UPSC and poor survival outcome, and might reduce the chemotherapy sensitivity.