HER-2/neu gene amplification in gastric adenocarcinoma and its relationship with clinical and pathological findings.

Background: Amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene influences the progression of gastric cancer, its prognosis, and therapy. A precise examination of HER-2/neu -amplified tumor tissue is essential for managing disease and prescribing the appropriate treatment. This study aimed to investigate the status of HER-2/neu gene in the gastric cancer samples and its relationship with clinical and pathological information.

Methods: In this study on 80 paraffin-embedded tissue samples from patients with gastric adenocarcinoma [2006-2011], DNA was extracted to quantify the gene expression levels of HER-2 using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Data were statistically analyzed by chi-square test using SPSS16.0 software.

Results: PCR results indicated that HER-2/neu gene amplifications occurred in 58 of the 80 samples (72.5%). HER-2/neu gene expression was not significantly related to age and sex, but the larger tumor size and the more advanced stage were significantly associated with HER-2/neu overexpression.

Conclusions: The data show the HER-2/neu gene is more amplified in stage 4 of gastric cancer with a larger size of mass. Older age and male sex also appear to be more associated with HER-2/neu gene expression.