IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL EXPRESSION OF HUMAN EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR RECEPTOR-2 IN GASTRIC ADENOCARCINOMA IN PAKISTAN

HER2 in Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of immunohistochemical expression of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) in gastric and gastro esophageal junctional adenocarcinoma.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Histopathology, Pakistan Naval Ship (PNS) Shifa Hospital Karachi, from Oct 2014 to Oct 2015.
Material and Methods: All specimens of gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, irrespective of age of patient, histological type and grade of the tumor were included. Poorly fixed specimens and specimens with scanty tumor tissue were not included.
Results: Majority of the patients belonged to 51 to 65 years of age group with mean age of 58.58 (SD ± 5.56) years. Gender distribution showed that 46 (69.6%) were males and 20 (29.33%) were females. Overall frequency of HER2 expression was 38% (n=25) in cases of gastric adenocarcinoma.
Conclusion: Expression of HER-2 receptor in gastric adenocarcinoma in this study was 38% and it was associated with histological grade and type of adenocarcinoma. HER-2 more frequently expressed in well differentiated than undifferentiated carcinomas with non-significant p-value i.e. (0.139) and in intestinal type phenotype with significant p-value less than (0.05).