Osaki A, Toi M, Yamada H, Kawami H, Kuroi K, Toge T
Dept. of Surgery, Hiroshima University.
Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 1991 Jun;18(7):1181-5.
The c-erbB-2 oncogene, is a member of tyrosine kinase oncogene family and expected to play a role in the regulation of cell growth. In the present study, prognostic significance of the expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was investigated by immunocytochemical assay with 130 primary breast cancer patients. The positive expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was found in 53 out of 130 patients (40.8%). There was no significant correlation between expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein and conventional prognostic factors, estrogen receptor (ER), axillary lymph node metastasis and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Relapse free survival rate of the patients with positive c-erbB-2 expression was significantly worse than those with negative at 49 month after operation. Similar result was found in overall survival rate but the difference was not significant. Furthermore, when patients were stratified by regional nodal status, in the patients with lymph node metastasis, the prognosis of the patients with positive c-erbB-2 expression was significantly worse than those with negative, while no significant difference was found in the patients without lymph node metastasis. These results suggest that c-erbB-2 oncoprotein may act as a prognostic factor independently, predicting the prognosis of breast cancer patients.
c-erbB-2癌基因是酪氨酸激酶癌基因家族的成员之一，有望在细胞生长调节中发挥作用。在本研究中，采用免疫细胞化学分析法对130例原发性乳腺癌患者进行研究，探讨c-erbB-2癌蛋白表达的预后意义。130例患者中有53例（40.8%）c-erbB-2癌蛋白呈阳性表达。c-erbB-2癌蛋白表达与传统预后因素，如雌激素受体（ER）、腋窝淋巴结转移及表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）之间无显著相关性。术后49个月时，c-erbB-2表达阳性患者的无复发生存率显著低于阴性患者。总生存率也有类似结果，但差异不显著。此外，根据区域淋巴结状态对患者进行分层时，在有淋巴结转移的患者中，c-erbB-2表达阳性患者的预后明显差于阴性患者，而在无淋巴结转移的患者中未发现显著差异。这些结果表明，c-erbB-2癌蛋白可能独立作为一种预后因素，预测乳腺癌患者的预后。
