Value of expression of HER-2 and Topo-II in prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

Objective To evaluate the value of expression of HER-2 and Topoisomerase II alpha (Topo-Ⅱ) in prediction of therapeutic effectiveness in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant taxane and anthracycline chemotherapy.Methods Using pretreatment biopsy tissue, immunohistochemistry was performed to detect HER-2 and Topo-Ⅱ protein expression in 86 breast cancer patients. The relationships between HER-2 and Topo-Ⅱ protein expression and clinical and pathological complete response were analyzed.Results The overall clinical response was 84.9%, including 36% clinical complete response and 48.8% clinical partial response. The pathological complete response was just 17.4%. HER-2 overexpression was detected in 31.1%,Topo-Ⅱ was positive in 51.4%. HER-2 overexpression was significantly correlated with clinical and pathological response(P0.05). Topo-Ⅱprotein overexpression was not predictive for response. Patients with both HER-2 and Topo-Ⅱ positive expression showed a higher clinical and pathological response than other groups(P0.05).Conclusions HER-2 overexpression is associated with high response to neoadjuvant taxane and anthracycline chemotherapy. It can serve as predictive markers to this regimen.