c-erbB-2 Positivity is a factor for poor prognosis in breast cancer and poor response to hormonal or chemotherapy treatment in advanced disease

The aim of this work was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive values o f c-erbB-2 in breast cancer. 650 patients were enrolled. The amplification/ overexpression of c-erbB-2 from fresh frozen or paraffin-embedded breast tu mour tissue samples was analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniq ue (75%), immunohistochemically (17%) or by Southern blot analysis (8%). 12 6 patients (19%) were positive for c-erbB-2. 148 patients developed metasta tic disease, but only 35 were positive for c-erbB-2. Positivity for c-erbB- 2 was significantly associated with node positivity, large tumour size, hig h grade of malignancy, low receptor status, postmenopausal status, and with a shorter overall survival. In multivariate regression analysis, only tumo ur size and nodal involvement were risk factors for poor survival when anal ysed separately together with c-erbB-2 and receptor status. Metastatic pati ents with c-erbB-2 positivity had a significantly shorter survival and dise ase-free survival (DFS) than the c-erbB-2-negative patients. 29 advanced pa tients with c-erbB-2 positivity showed a poor response rate to hormonal, no n-anthracycline-based and anthracycline-based therapies. Positivity for the c-erbB-2 is a poor prognostic factor in breast cancer, but it also emerges as predictive of the response to hormonal or chemotherapy treatment once t he disease has recurred. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved .