Castilla-Guerra L, Moreno A M, Fernández-Moreno M C, Utrilla J C, Fernández E, Galera-Davison H
Department of Cytology and Histopathology, University of Seville, Spain.
Histopathology. 1997 Aug;31(2):144-9. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2559.1997.2240838.x.
Amplification of c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene has been reported in endocrine tumours, but the results were unclear and no predictive prognostic value has been established in the case of phaeochromocytoma. We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of c-erbB-2 oncogene in 34 cases of human phaeochromocytoma (27 sporadic, seven familial type MEN (multiple endocrine neoplasm)) in order to find out if it could be used to differentiate sporadic and familial forms and whether c-erbB-2 expression is related to tumour biological behaviour.
All the cases showed diffuse, generally heterogeneous, intracytoplasmic granular c-erbB-2 staining. The percentage of tumour cells expressing c-erbB-2 was used as the comparative variable. The percentage of c-erbB-2 positive cells had a statistically significant (P < 0.001) relationship with tumour aggressiveness, as manifested by the presence of distant metastasis or association with other malignant neoplasms. We also found significantly higher levels (P = 0.007) of c-erbB-2 overexpression in MEN phaeochromocytoma than in sporadic cases.
These results clarify the important role of c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene in the pathogenesis of human phaeochromocytoma and confirm the unfavourable prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 expression.
已有报道称内分泌肿瘤中存在c-erbB-2原癌基因扩增，但结果尚不明确，且在嗜铬细胞瘤中尚未确立其预测预后价值。我们研究了34例人嗜铬细胞瘤（27例散发性、7例家族性多发性内分泌腺瘤病（MEN））中c-erbB-2癌基因的免疫组化表达，以确定其是否可用于区分散发性和家族性形式，以及c-erbB-2表达是否与肿瘤生物学行为相关。
所有病例均显示弥漫性、通常不均匀的胞浆内颗粒状c-erbB-2染色。将表达c-erbB-2的肿瘤细胞百分比作为比较变量。c-erbB-2阳性细胞百分比与肿瘤侵袭性具有统计学显著相关性（P < 0.001），表现为远处转移或与其他恶性肿瘤相关。我们还发现，MEN嗜铬细胞瘤中c-erbB-2过表达水平显著高于散发性病例（P = 0.007）。
这些结果阐明了c-erbB-2原癌基因在人嗜铬细胞瘤发病机制中的重要作用，并证实了c-erbB-2表达具有不良预后意义。
