Kojima Yuki, Sudo Kazuki, Yoshida Hiroshi, Yazaki Shu, Tokura Momoko, Mizoguchi Chiharu, Okuma Hitomi S, Kita Shosuke, Yamamoto Kasumi, Nishikawa Tadaaki, Noguchi Emi, Shimoi Tatsunori, Tanase Yasuhito, Uno Masaya, Ishikawa Mitsuya, Kato Tomoyasu, Koyama Kumiko, Kobayashi Maki, Kakegawa Tomoya, Fujiwara Yasuhiro, Yonemori Kan
Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan.
Department of Diagnostic Pathology, National Cancer Center Hospital, 5-1-1, Tsukiji, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan.
Cancer Cell Int. 2023 Feb 3;23(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12935-022-02844-z.
Human epidermal growth factor receptor-3 (HER3) is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family of receptor tyrosine kinases, and its overexpression is associated with inferior prognosis in several cancers. However, it is unclear whether HER3 expression status changes in tumor tissue at recurrence. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the changes in HER3 expression between primary and recurrent status in gynecological cancers.
This retrospective study used matched-pair tissues of gynecological cancer patients at initial diagnosis and at recurrence. Immunohistochemical (IHC) scores of 3 + or 2 + were termed "HER3-high", while IHC scores of 1 + or 0 were designated as "HER3-low/zero".
A total of 86 patients (40 with ovarian cancers, 32 with endometrial cancers, and 14 with cervical cancers) were included in this study. In ovarian cancer, 67.5% and 80.0% of the patients received a HER3-high at initial and recurrent diagnosis, respectively. The H-score was significantly increased at recurrence (p = 0.004). The proportion of HER3-high endometrial cancer patients increased from 46.9% at initial diagnosis to 68.8% at recurrence, and the H-score tended to increase at recurrence (p = 0.08). The fraction of HER3-high-rated cervical cancer patients remained unchanged at 85.7% both at initial and recurrent diagnosis. The discordance rate of HER3 expression detection in initial and recurrent diagnosis samples was 27.5%, 53.1%, and 14.3% for ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers, respectively. Ovarian and endometrial cancers with a HER3-high recurrent score tended to show shorter median survival time than those with a HER3-low/zero recurrent rating.
Our findings suggest that, in main types of gynecological cancers, the proportion of patients having a HER3-high score increased from initial to recurrent diagnosis.
人表皮生长因子受体3（HER3）是受体酪氨酸激酶表皮生长因子受体家族的成员，其过表达与多种癌症的预后较差相关。然而，目前尚不清楚肿瘤组织在复发时HER3表达状态是否会发生变化。因此，本研究旨在评估妇科癌症原发灶和复发灶之间HER3表达的变化。
本项回顾性研究使用了妇科癌症患者初次诊断和复发时的配对组织。免疫组化（IHC）评分为3+或2+被称为“HER3高表达”，而IHC评分为1+或0被指定为“HER3低表达/无表达”。
本研究共纳入86例患者（40例卵巢癌、32例子宫内膜癌和14例宫颈癌）。在卵巢癌中，分别有67.5%和80.0%的患者在初次诊断和复发诊断时HER3高表达。复发时H评分显著升高（p=0.004）。HER3高表达的子宫内膜癌患者比例从初次诊断时的46.9%增加到复发时的68.8%，且复发时H评分有升高趋势（p=0.08）。HER3高表达的宫颈癌患者比例在初次诊断和复发诊断时均保持不变，为85.7%。卵巢癌、子宫内膜癌和宫颈癌初次诊断和复发诊断样本中HER3表达检测的不一致率分别为27.5%、53.1%和14.3%。复发评分为HER3高表达的卵巢癌和子宫内膜癌患者的中位生存时间往往比复发评分为HER3低表达/无表达的患者短。
我们的研究结果表明，在主要类型的妇科癌症中，HER3高评分患者的比例从初次诊断到复发诊断有所增加。
