Brief Article
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 21, 2012; 18(43): 6263-6268
Published online Nov 21, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i43.6263
Clinicopathological characteristics of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive Barrett's adenocarcinoma
Takehiro Tanaka, Atsushi Fujimura, Koichi Ichimura, Hiroyuki Yanai, Yasuharu Sato, Katsuyohi Takata, Hiroyuki Okada, Seiji Kawano, Shunsuke Tanabe, Tadashi Yoshino
Takehiro Tanaka, Koichi Ichimura, Hiroyuki Yanai, Department of Pathology, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Atsushi Fujimura, Department of Physiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Yasuharu Sato, Tadashi Yoshino, Katsuyoshi Takata, Department of Pathology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Hiroyuki Okada, Seiji Kawano, Department of Endoscopy, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Shunsuke Tanabe, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan
Author contributions: Tanaka T, Fujimura A and Ichimura K designed research; Okada H, Kawano S and Tanabe S acquired the clinical data; Tanaka T, Sato Y and Takata K analyzed data; Tanaka T, Yanai H and Yoshino T wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Dr. Takehiro Tanaka, Department of Pathology, Okayama University Hospital, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. takehiro@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-86-2357756 Fax: +81-86-2357756
Received: June 18, 2012
Revised: September 13, 2012
Accepted: September 22, 2012
Published online: November 21, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To compare the clinicopathological characteristics of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive and HER2-negative Barrett’s adenocarcinoma in Japan.

METHODS: We performed immunohistochemical analysis of HER2 in 30 samples taken from patients with Barrett’s adenocarcinoma and dual color in situ hybridization in cases showing 2+ reactions. We compared the clinicopathological characteristics of HER2-positive and HER2-negative patients.

RESULTS: HER2 positivity was identified in 8 (27%) carcinoma samples. We found that HER2 expression was associated with p53 overexpression (100% vs 52.6% in pT1 tumor; 100% vs 54.5% in all stage tumor, P < 0.05) and protruding lesions at the early disease stage. There was no association between the mucin phenotype of the carcinomas and prognosis. HER2 expression and low clinical stage were unexpectedly different between Barrett’s adenocarcinoma patients and gastric cancer patients, but the macroscopic features may be associated with earlier diagnosis in these patients.

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that HER2-positive Barrett’s adenocarcinomas are associated with p53 overexpression and lesion protrusion at the early disease stage.

Keywords: Barrett’s adenocarcinoma; Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; p53; Mucin phenotype