Association of HER2/NEU Expression with Patient Prognosis in Primary Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Gastric carcinoma is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between HER2 overexpression and prognostic factors in Pakistani patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods: Over the course of a year, 200 patients with gastric cancer underwent immunohistochemical staining as part of a crosssectional investigation. The ToGA trial criteria were used to assess HER2/neu expression through immunohistochemistry (IHC) in Gastric Adenocarcinoma, including +3 Staining, +2 Staining, +1 Staining, and 0 Staining, regardless of gender. Statistical evaluation was conducted using Chi-Square or Fisher Exact tests with GraphPad Prism 5 and SPSS version 19. Results: In 70% of the cases examined, it was discovered that HER2 was overexpressed. This overexpression was found to be correlated with patients over the age of 40 at diagnosis, specific histological subtypes, and moderately differentiated grades of primary gastric adenocarcinoma. In 20% of cases, HER2 was also found to be overexpressed, but no connection was found between HER2 and patients' gender. It was observed that 37% of diffuse-type gastric adenocarcinomas and 75% of intestinal adenocarcinomas overexpressed HER2. Based on tumor differentiation, HER2 overexpression was observed in 90% and 80% of patients with well-differentiated (grade I) and moderately differentiated (grade II) adenocarcinomas, respectively. Additionally, 60% of patients with grade III poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma displayed HER2 overexpression. Conclusion: To improve survival rates in cases of gastric adenocarcinoma, it is advised to examine all instances for HER2 overexpression closely. This allows for targeted molecular therapy, as is also seen in the overexpression of HER2 in diffusetype gastric cancer. To improve survival rates, it's essential to closely examine all cases of gastric adenocarcinoma for HER2 overexpression and provide targeted molecular therapy. This is also seen in cases of diffuse-type gastric cancer where HER2 overexpression is present.