DNA ; chemistry ; Genes ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Humans ; Pathology ; trends

PURPOSE: Silver-enhanced in situ hybridization (SISH) is a newly developed method to evaluate HER2 gene amplification in invasive breast carcinomas. Most laboratories widely use fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to evaluate the HER2 gene amplification status because FISH is a very sensitive and accurate technique. However, this technique is not the best because it requires specialized equipment and interpretation skills. We compared a new technique of SISH with FISH for assessing HER2 gene amplification in invasive breast carcinomas. METHODS: HER2 gene amplification was assessed in 165 cases of invasive breast carcinoma by FISH and SISH with constructing a tissue microarray. The tumors were assessed by the guidelines of the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists (ASCO/CAP). Positivity was defined as a HER2/Chromosome 17 ratio greater than 2.2. Negativity was defined if the ratio was less than 1.8. The tumor was considered as equivocal for HER2 gene amplification if the ratio was between 1.8 and 2.2. The HER2 protein status was assessed. Immunostaining for HER2 protein was performed in a Benchmark automatic immunostaining device with using whole tissue sections. RESULTS: There was agreement of the HER2 gene amplification status by SISH and FISH in 162 of 165 cases, which is a concordance rate of 98.2% (kappa=0.94). There were three discrepant cases, with two of them being FISH positive and SISH negative (one case was IHC negative and one case was IHC positive) and one case was FISH negative and SISH equivocal. CONCLUSION: The 98.2% concordance between FISH and SISH meets the ASCO/CAP requirements for test validation of >95% concordance. These results indicate that SISH can be used as an alternative to FISH for assessing the HER2 gene amplification status in breast carcinomas.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Fluorescence ; Genes, erbB-2 ; In Situ Hybridization ; Receptor, erbB-2

Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; DNA Probes ; Female ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo investigate the interference and the mechanisms of Bcl-2 and HER-2 genes antisense oligodeoxynucleotides combined transfection in the human tongue carcinoma Tca8113 cell lines.

METHODSThere were 6 groups in our study, normal control group, Bcl-2 sense experimental group, HER-2 sense experimental group, Bcl-2 antisense experimental group, HER-2 antisense experimental group, Bcl-2 and HER-2 genes antisense oligodeoxynucleotides combined transfection experimental group. In the different times after liposome-mediated transfection, the cell apoptosis, Bcl-2 and HER-2 expressing level were observed by RT-PCR and electronic microscope.

RESULTSAccording to the results of combined transfection experimental group, the apoptosis body and apoptosis cells were observed. The expression of genes were decreased statistically in both Bcl-2 and HER-2, respectively. Bcl-2 and HER-2 combined ASODN was superior to single ASODN in the intervention of tongue carcinoma.

CONCLUSIONBcl-2 and HER-2 ASODN can effectively interfere the expression of HER-2 and Bcl-2 genes. The expression of HER-2 and Bcl-2 can be reduced, and the apoptosis of cells can be enhanced.

Humans ; Female ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Breast Neoplasms ; Gene Expression ; Adenocarcinoma

Animals ; Genes, BRCA2 ; Genes, erbB-1 ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Genes, p16 ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, ras ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Humans ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; classification ; genetics ; pathology

Recently, p53, c-erbB-2 and nm23 proteins have been studied in breast cancer. The expression of p53 protein indicates the mutation of p53 gene known as a tumor supressor gene, and c-erbB-2 gene amplification has been considered an indicator of poor prognosis and nm23 a metastsis suppressor gene. In order to elucidate the roles and relations of these proteins in the develpoment, progression and metastasis in breast cancer, we studied 89 cases of invasive breast cancer and 32 cases of lymph node metastasis for the expression of p53, c-erbB-2 and nm23 proteins using an immunohistochemical method. The results were as follows: 1) The expression rates of p53, c-erbB-2, and nm23 proteins in breast cancer were 40.4%, 34.8% and 55.1%, respectively. Co-expression of p53 protein and c-erbB-2 protein was found in 20.2% of cases, showing the highest incidence in poorly differentiated type (40%). 2) p53 protein expression was increased in poorly differentiated type but was not statistically significant. On the other hand, the expression of nm23 protein was decreased in poorly differentiated type, which was statistically significant (p<0.05). 3) The correlation of p53 protein expression with c-erbB-2 protein expression was statistically significant (p<0.05) but that with nm23 protein was not. 4) In the cases with lymph node metastasis, discordant expression of p53, c-erbB-2 and nm23 proteins between primary tumor and the lymph node metastatic tumor was found in 9.4%, 3.1% and 18.8% of cases, respectively. The above results suggest that overexpression of p53 and c-erbB-2 proteins and downregulation of nm23 protein are associated with the tumor progression in the breast cancer.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Down-Regulation ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Genes, p53 ; Genes, Suppressor ; Hand ; Incidence ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Receptor, erbB-2

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of the expression of EGFR and C-erbB-2 gene products by immunohistochemical analysis for curatively resected gastric adenocarcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 1996 and December 2001, 739 patients with curatively resected gastric cancer patients underwent Immunohistochemical staining for EGFR and C-erbB-2 proteins, and we retro spectively analyzed their correlation with the clinical outcome. RESULTS: The overexpressions of EGFR and C-erbB-2 were 25.4% and 26.2%, respectively. The overexpressions of EGFR was associated with the more poorly differentiated tumor (p=0.000) and with neuronal invasion (p=0.03). Overexpression of C-erbB-2 was associated with less vascular invasion (p=0.001). Tumor depth or node metastasis was not related to the overexpression of EGFR or C-erbB-2. The seven-year overall survival and relapse-free survival rates were 87.2% and 75.8%, respectively. Upon multivariate Cox regression analysis, the tumor stage, tumor size and patient age were important prognostic factors for overall survival, and tumor stage was the important factor for relapse-free survival. Overexpressions of EGFR or c-erbB-2 were not significant prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: Immunohistochemical staining of EGFR and C-erbB-2 gene products were not independent prognostic factors for predicting the overall survival and the relapse-free survival in curatively resected gastric cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neurons ; Prognosis ; Receptor, erbB-2 ; Regression Analysis ; Stomach Neoplasms*

Breast Neoplasms ; chemistry ; genetics ; Chromogenic Compounds ; Female ; Genes, erbB-2 ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; methods ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; analysis

Humans ; Female ; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Gene Amplification ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Immunohistochemistry ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism* ; Genes, erbB-2