Expression of oncogene c-erbB-2 and its relationship with clinicopathologic factors in infiltrating ductal breast cancer and metastatic axillary lymph nodes

Objective:To observe the expression of c-erbB-2 and its relationship with clinical and pathological characteristics in infiltrating ductal breast cancer. Methods: Immunohisto-chemical technique was performed to detect the expression of oncogene c-erbB-2 in 149 cases of primary carcinoma and 47 cases of synchronous metastatic lymph node. Their clinical and pathological indices and follow up data were analyzed. Results: The overexpression rate of c-erbB-2 was 19.46%(29/149). The expression of c-erbB-2 was significantly correlated with the tumor size, the expression of ER and PR and lymph node metastasis(P0.05), but not with the age(P0.05). 12 of 47 cases (25.53%)showed a discordance of c-erbB-2 status between primary carcinoma and synchronous lymph node metastases. Conclusion:The expression of c-erbB-2 gene is positively correlated with tumor invasion ,axillary lymphatic metastasis and negatively correlated with the expression of ER and PR in breast cancer. c-erbB-2 can be used as an independent molecular marker for determining the prognosis and planning the postoperative treatment. For the treatment of metastatic patients, the evaluation of c-erbB-2 status should be performed in neoplastic tissue from metastatic site, whenever possible.