Relation between HER2 gene expression and prognostic prostate cancer parameters in trus guided biopsies

Introduction: Prostate carcinoma is the most common type of cancer and the second lethal cancer in men. Overexpression of Her2neu gene affects the growth and prognosis of some tumors. HER2 gene amplification is seen in about onethird of prostatic adenocarcinoma cases.it also seems to correlate with androgen independence of the prostate tumors. We evaluated the HER2neu expression in prostate cancer and its relation with known prognostic factors, in this study. Material and Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was used to evaluate the expression of Her2neu in 60 cases of prostate carcinoma. The relation between HER2neu expression and prognostic factors of prostatic carcinoma was evaluated,which included serum PSA values , number of core involvement, high percentage of core involvement,Gleason score,Gleason grade,extra prostatic extension of the tumoral cells and tumor volume.Results: Among 60 patients included in our study ,Her2neu was negative in 49 (81.7%) cases (zero score in 35 cases and score 1+ in 14 cases) , and a weakly positive expression (score 2+) was seen in 11 (%18/3) cases.Among evaluated factors, tumor volume was the only factor which significantly correlated with Her2neu expression.Conclusion:The rate of Her2neu expression was not high in our patients. Among various variables evaluated in our study,only tumor volume had significant statistical correlation with the expression of Her2neu. According to low expression of Her2neu in evaluated specimens in this study, it is necessary to conduct more studies to confirm the relationship of her2neu and the known prognostic factors of prostate carcinoma.