T. Nishioka et al., Prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 protein expression in carcinoma of thecervix treated with radiotherapy, J CANC RES, 125(2), 1999, pp. 96-100
Purpose: The relationship was studied between c-erbB-2 expression and outco
me in 107 carcinomas of the cervix treated with radical radiotherapy. Metho
ds: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections were stained by immunohistoc
hemistry for over-expression of the c-erbB-2 protein. A retrospective study
of treatment outcome was made on patients with a median follow-up of 55 mo
nths. Results: Patients with c-erbB-2-positive tumours had a significantly
worse overall survival rate than those with c-erbB-2-negative tumours (P =
0.019). Metastasis-free survival (i.e. recurrence outside the radiotherapy
field) was also significantly worse (P < 0.001) but there were no differenc
es in local control (i.e. recurrence within the radiotherapy field) rates (
P = 0.24). Bivariate log-rank analyses showed that the prognostic value of
c-erbB-2 expression for metastasis-free survival was independent of disease
stage, histological grade, patient age, tumour size and tumour radiosensit
ivity. A combination of two biological parameters yielded a high discrimina
tion between outcome groups. Women with radiosensitive and c-er-bB-2-negati
ve tumours had a 5-year metastasis-free survival level of 70% compared to 3
3% for women with radioresistant, c-erbB-2-positive tumours. Conclusions: c
-erbB-2 expression is an important prognostic factor for determining tumour
recurrence outside the treatment field in cervix carcinomas treated with r
adiotherapy.