Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 testing in gastroesophageal cancer: correlation between immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

CONTEXT: Patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer have poor survival with current therapy. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) represents a promising therapeutic target, but the optimal HER2 testing strategy is not yet defined.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the concordance between immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and to determine if the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists HER2 scoring system is applicable to gastroesophageal carcinomas.

DESIGN: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples from patients with advanced stage gastroesophageal cancer were tested by IHC and FISH and scored according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists criteria for breast cancer. Concordance between IHC and FISH was evaluated. A subset of cases was subjected to array comparative genomic hybridization to verify the positive and negative HER2 results.

RESULTS: A total of 135 cases with paired IHC and FISH results were evaluated. The majority of samples (84%) were biopsies. HER2 amplification was detected in 20 tumors (15%). Using the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists scoring system, IHC-FISH concordance was 97% for IHC 0, 93% for IHC 1+, and 100% for IHC 3+. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positivity was strongly associated with tumor grade (moderately differentiated > poorly differentiated, P < .001) and histologic subtype (intestinal > diffuse, P  =  .007). Array comparative genomic hybridization analysis was successful in 31 tumors (14 FISH+ and 17 FISH-). Fluorescence in situ hybridization and array comparative genomic hybridization results were highly concordant in both HER2-positive and HER2-negative groups (93% and 100% concordance, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 testing in gastroesophageal cancer can be performed using standard breast cancer procedures and the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists scoring criteria. Although IHC 0 and IHC 3+ provide clear stratification, reliable separation of IHC 1+ and IHC 2+ may be difficult, especially in biopsy samples. The latter 2 groups are best referred to FISH for definitive classification.