Study on the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of breast cancer with HER-2 low expression
JIANG Jianping
LUO Xiangrong
YAN Xuebo
SHEN Hui
XU Tao
DAI Bin
Abstract：Objective To explore the relationship between low expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER-2)and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of breast cancer.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical medical records of patients with HER-2 negative breast cancer who were treated at the Breast Disease Center of Shaoyang Central Hospital from 2014 to 2019.The expression of HER-2 was detected by immunohistochemistry(IHC)and fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH),and the patients were divided into those with low HER-2 expression(IHC 1+and IHC 2+without amplification by FISH)and those with zero HER-2 expression(IHC 0).Positive hormone receptor(HR)is defined as estrogen receptor(ER)status and/or positive progesterone receptor(PR).Compare the differences in clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis[disease-free survival(DFS)and overall survival(OS)]between the HER-2 low expression group and the zero expression group.Results In the total population,there were significant differences between the HER-2 low expression group and the HER-2 zero expression group in terms of tumor T stage,N stage,histological grade,Ki-67 and HR status(P<0.05).In the total population and the HR-positive group,the HER-2 low expression group was associated with a higher T stage(P<0.05);However,in the HR-negative group,low expression of HER-2 was associated with a lower T stage(P<0.05).Whether in the total population or the population grouped by HR,HER-2 zero expression was associated with a higher N stage(P<0.05).In the total population and the HR-negative group,the proportion of patients with high histological grade and high Ki-67 was higher in the HER-2 zero expression group(P<0.05).In addition,the proportion of HR positive patients in the HER-2 low expression group was significantly higher(83.33%vs.69.26%,P<0.001).Survival curve analysis showed that low expression of HER-2 was associated with poorer prognosis of DFS and OS in HR-positive patients(P<0.05).Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses showed that low HER-2 expression was an independent influencing factor for the prognosis of DFS(HR:3.645,95%CI:1.406-9.446,P=0.019)and OS(HR:3.512,95%CI:1.288-9.575,P=0.033)in HR-positive patients.Conclusion Among HR-positive patients,low expression of HER-2 is associated with a higher tumor T stage and a poorer survival prognosis.
Keywords：breast cancerhuman epidermal growth factor receptor 2clinicopathological characteristicsprognosis
Publication Date：2025-12-28
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 1172-1178 )