EXPRESSION OF HER-2 NEU ONCOGENE IN NORMAL, HYPERPLASTIC AND MALIGNANT ENDOMETRIUM/

HER-2/neu oncogene is believed to be involved in tumorigenesis of seve ral human malignancies. To assess the pattern of expression of this on cogene in normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic endometrium, immunocyto chemistry was applied to paraffin embedded tissue sections obtained fr om 146 patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma. A spectrum of hyperpl astic changes ranging from simple hyperplasia to atypical hyperplasia was seen in 15 percent (22/146) of cases. Expression for HER-2/neu onc ogene was demonstrated as cell membrane staining. Normal, hyperplastic and neoplastic epithelial cells showed a heterogeneous expression for HER-2/neu oncogene. The intensity of the immunostaining and the numbe r of cells stained for HER-2/neu oncogene had no significant associati on with surgical stage or histologic grade, although the proportion of patients demonstrating overexpression increased significantly as the histologic grade of their turner increased (p = 0.030). Furthermore, i n a multivariate analysis, a statistically significant correlation was found between the level of expression of HER-2/neu oncogene and overa ll survival (p = 0.025). This study demonstrated that HER-2/neu oncoge ne expression is variably present in normal and hyperplastic endometri um. Association between HER-2/neu oncogene expression, higher grade le sions and poor survival in patients with endometrial cancer may also j ustify assessment of HER-2/neu oncogene as a reliable prognostic indic ator.