الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Breast cancer is one of the most common types of malignant tumors worldwide especially among Egyptian women’s in Upper Egypt. Recently, Her-2/neu gene status has become of major clinical significance in breast cancer as a prognostic and predictive biomarker. Patients and methods: This current study was conducted on 67 paraffin embedded tissue and blood from women with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer from 2011 to 2013 in Upper Egypt. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were analysed for the steroid hormone receptors and Her-2/neu gene expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC), in addition to DNA extraction to determine Her-2/neu gene amplification using quantitative real time PCR technique (RT-PCR). Two blood samples were collected from each patient, before and from 3 and 6 months after treatment for RNA extraction to quantify the gene expression. Results: We found 35.82%, 65.67%, 59.7% of the tumour tissues to be expressed for HER-2/neu protein, ER and PR using IHC respectively. The expression of Her-2/neu was correlated significantly with age and negative correlated with each steroid hormone receptors and grade. About 35.82% of negative immunoreactivity of HER-2/neu was positive immunoreactivity for both ER and PR and 7.46% of positive HER-2/neu was negative for both ER and PR. No significant difference was detected between HER-2/neu amplification by QRT-PCR and by IHC. All treated groups revealed a decrease in the level of HER-2/neu mRNA expression on blood compared to non treated groups except the group treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy showed an increase after 3 or 6 months. The highest decrease founded in the group treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Conclusion: The expression and amplification of Her-2/neu gene is biomarker to monitor breast cancer patient’s responsiveness for Chemo, Radio and Hormonal therapy treated in Upper Egypt. Key words: Her-2/neu, immunohistochemistery, real time- PCR, steroid hormones, mRNA, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy. |