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Her-2/neu Gene Amplification and Protein Expression in Primary Male Breast Cancer

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Abstract

The role of HER-2/neu in male breast cancer is not well defined. The purpose of the current study was to measure the frequency of HER-2/neu expression in primary male breast cancer, to demonstrate HER-2/neu gene amplification in cases found to be positive for protein overexpression, and to correlate HER-2/neu positivity with clinicopathological variables. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival material from 99 primary male breast carcinomas was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using the HercepTest™ (DAKO Corp., Hamburg, Germany). Scoring was performed according to established guidelines. All cases demonstrating HER-2/neu staining by IHC (1+/2+ and 3+) were analyzed for HER-2/neu gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) utilizing the PathVysion™ assay (Vysis Corp., Downers Grove, Illinois) to assess HER-2/neu amplification status. The immunohistochemical staining of the HER-2/neu protein revealed HER-2/neu positivity in 15/99 (15.1%) cases, eight tumors showed 2+ and 7 tumors 3+ staining. HER-2/neu gene amplification was observed in 11/99 cases (11,1%), and all of the 3+ and 4/8 from the 2+ cases were amplified. HER-2/neu gene amplification/protein overexpression did not correlate with tumor state, histological grade or estrogen/progesterone receptor status nor the axillary lymph node status. This is the first comprehensive study of HER-2/neu gene amplification by FISH analysis in primary male breast cancer. Compared to female primary breast cancer the percentage of HER-2/neu positivity in our study was lower. Our data provide first evidence for HER-2/neu gene amplification in male breast cancer. Further studies should be addressed on the potential application of the monoclonal rhuMAB HER-2/neu antibody for treatment of HER-2/neu positive male breast cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Christian Rudlowski & Gunther Bastert

  2. Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Nicolaus Friedrichs & Reinhard Büttner

  3. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany

    Andree Faridi & Werner Rath

  4. Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Lazlo Füzesi

  5. Institute of Pathology, University Hospital, Marburg, Germany

    Roland Moll

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  1. Christian Rudlowski
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Rudlowski, C., Friedrichs, N., Faridi, A. et al. Her-2/neu Gene Amplification and Protein Expression in Primary Male Breast Cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 84, 215–223 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BREA.0000019953.92921.7e

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BREA.0000019953.92921.7e

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