HER2 immunohistochemistry significantly overestimates HER2 amplification in uterine papillary serous carcinomas
- PMID: 24698965
- DOI: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000000182
HER2 immunohistochemistry significantly overestimates HER2 amplification in uterine papillary serous carcinomas
Abstract
Recently, there have been numerous reports showing that HER2 overexpression or amplification occurs in a variable number of uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) cases, leading to a current clinical trial targeting this pathway. Although approved algorithms exist for scoring HER2 overexpression/amplification in breast and gastroesophageal carcinomas, scoring criteria and the optimal methodology for assessing HER2 in UPSC are currently unknown. Most frequently, the American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists (ASCO/CAP) breast carcinoma algorithms have been utilized for UPSC, wherein cases are screened with immunohistochemistry (IHC), followed by fluorescence in situ hybridization for equivocal cases. However, interpreting HER2 IHC can be prone to significant subjectivity, often leading to false-positive results. To better correlate HER2 IHC results with underlying amplification in UPSC, we compared HER2 overexpression by IHC with HER2 amplification with chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH). A total of 69 cases of UPSC-57 pure and 12 mixed-were identified over a 10-year period. All were included in a tissue microarray, and HER2 IHC and CISH were performed. Each case was scored according to the most recent 2013, as well as the 2007, ASCO/CAP scoring guidelines for breast carcinoma. Whole-tissue sections were also examined in cases with amplification by CISH on initial screening, as well as an equal number of negative cases, to account for intratumoral heterogeneity. Nine (13%) cases showed HER2 amplification by CISH, whereas 14 (20%) and 28 (40%) cases showed overexpression with IHC when the 2007 or 2013 ASCO/CAP criteria were utilized, respectively. The overall concordance rate between CISH and IHC was 64% (9/14) with the 2007 ASCO/CAP criteria and 32% (9/28) with the 2013 ASCO/CAP criteria. Intratumoral heterogeneity was seen in 3 (33%) amplified cases. No additional amplified cases were identified on subsequent whole-section examination after the initial negative tissue microarray screening. While confirming that HER2 amplification is found in a subset of UPSC, our results also show that screening with IHC will overestimate the number of cases showing underlying HER2 gene amplification. The significant discordance between methods in our study suggests that optimal HER2 testing parameters in UPSC are yet to be defined. Future clinical trials should incorporate both IHC and ISH results for each patient in their study design, so that conclusions can finally be made about which method is ultimately a better predictor of treatment response.
Similar articles
-
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 testing in gastroesophageal cancer: correlation between immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization.Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2011 Nov;135(11):1460-5. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2010-0541-OA. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2011. PMID: 22032573
-
Dual-colour HER2/chromosome 17 chromogenic in situ hybridisation assay enables accurate assessment of HER2 genomic status in gastric cancer and has potential utility in HER2 testing of biopsy samples.J Clin Pathol. 2011 Oct;64(10):880-3. doi: 10.1136/jclinpath-2011-200009. Epub 2011 Jul 14. J Clin Pathol. 2011. PMID: 21757431
-
Analysis of HER2 by chromogenic in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry in lymph node-negative breast carcinoma: Prognostic relevance.Hum Pathol. 2007 Jan;38(1):26-34. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2006.07.013. Epub 2006 Oct 23. Hum Pathol. 2007. PMID: 17056098
-
[HER-2 oncogene amplification assessment in invasive breast cancer by dual-color in situ hybridization (dc-CISH): a comparative study with fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH)].Ann Pathol. 2011 Dec;31(6):472-9. doi: 10.1016/j.annpat.2011.10.013. Epub 2011 Nov 26. Ann Pathol. 2011. PMID: 22172120 Review. French.
-
HER2 testing: current status and future directions.Cancer Treat Rev. 2014 Mar;40(2):276-84. doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2013.09.001. Epub 2013 Sep 11. Cancer Treat Rev. 2014. PMID: 24080154 Review.
Cited by
-
Identification of a therapeutic target using molecular sequencing for treatment of recurrent uterine serous adenocarcinoma.Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2019 Feb 21;28:54-57. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2019.01.013. eCollection 2019 May. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2019. PMID: 30906838 Free PMC article.
-
Systematic assessment of HER2/neu in gynecologic neoplasms, an institutional experience.Diagn Pathol. 2016 Oct 22;11(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13000-016-0553-8. Diagn Pathol. 2016. PMID: 27770810 Free PMC article.
-
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 targeted therapy in endometrial cancer: Clinical and pathological perspectives.World J Clin Oncol. 2021 Oct 24;12(10):868-881. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i10.868. World J Clin Oncol. 2021. PMID: 34733610 Free PMC article. Review.
-
An unusual uterine papillary serous carcinoma with post therapy disseminating metastasis presenting as primary renal malignancy: a case report.Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2024 Jan 4;86(1):456-462. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000001574. eCollection 2024 Jan. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2024. PMID: 38222732 Free PMC article.
-
Detection of ERBB2 amplification in uterine serous carcinoma by next-generation sequencing: an approach highly concordant with standard assays.Mod Pathol. 2021 Mar;34(3):603-612. doi: 10.1038/s41379-020-00695-5. Epub 2020 Oct 19. Mod Pathol. 2021. PMID: 33077919
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Research Materials
Miscellaneous