OBJECTIVETo evaluate the epidemiological status of HER2 protein expression in Chinese patients with gastric carcinoma, and to study its clinical and prognostic significance and the association with the clinicopathological features.

METHODSThe clinical data were reviewed in 860 patients with gastric carcinoma admitted to Guangdong General Hospital from 2003 to 2010. The HER2 status was evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The modified HercepTest scoring criterion was used to assess HER2 protein expression. The association between HER2 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed by χ(2) test. Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test and Cox regression model were used for the survival analysis.

RESULTSThe median age of the patients was 59 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 2.06:1. Positive expression of HER2 protein (3+) was found in 77 (9.0%) cases of gastric carcinoma, and in 69 (8.9%) advanced gastric cancers. There was significantly positive association between HER2 over-expression and tumor differentiation, Lauren classification and WHO classification. No significant association was observed between HER2 protein expression and patients' age, gender, tumor location and clinical stage. There was no statistically significant difference in survival rate between patients with positive HER2 expression and negative ones.

CONCLUSIONThough there was significantly positive association between HER2 expression status and tumor differentiation, histological type, it may be of limited prognostic value in gastric cancer patients.