Background: The HER-2/neu gene is located on chromosome 17q21 and encodes a 185-kDa transmembrane glycoprotein with tyrosine kinase activity reported to be released in soluble form in various malignancies.Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of soluble Her-2/neu as a diagnostic marker in lung cancer. Method: Serum levels of soluble HER-2/neu were measured in 43 patients with lung cancer and 42 age and sex matched controls by an enzyme immunoassay method.Results: Mean serum level of soluble Her-2/neu in cancer patients was 6.07±10.37 ng/ml which was significantly higher than the control group (P < 0.05). Cigarette smoking had no effect on the level of soluble HER-2/neu. A cut off value of 6.1ng/ml revealed a high specificity (95%) for diagnosis of lung cancer, but a very low sensitivity (14%). Conclusion: The results of this study show an increased level of soluble HER-2/neu in the sera of lung cancer patients with a high specificity but low sensitivity for the diagnosis of lung cancers.    

Background: The use of biomarkers has become increasingly important in the diagnosis and treatment of several malignancies, including breast cancer. Among the established biomarkers, receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 (HER-2/ neu) has been found to be of a predictive and prognostic role in breast cancer patients. Method: 94 patients with primary breast cancer were enrolled in our prospective study between 2016 and 2017. 5 cc clot blood samples were taken for serum HER-2/neu testing at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer. The patients’ demographic data, tumor characteristics, including tumor size, tumor grade, presence of lymph node involvement, and stage, hormone receptor, and tissue HER-2/neu status of the subjects were recorded following tumor removal. Results: All of the patients were female with the age range of 27 to 80 years (the mean of age was 49. 66. 36 patients (38. 3%) had positive tissue HER-2 results and 58 (61. 7%) had negative results. In those with high level serum HER-2 ECD, 28(77. 7%) had positive tissue HER-2 and 8(22. 2%) had negative results. Moreover, in the patients with low level serum HER-2 ECD, 8(13. 7%) had positive tissue HER-2 and 50(86. 2%) had negative results with the sensitivity of 77. 7% and specificity of 86. 2%. HER2 ECD levels were highly concordant with tissue HER2 status, with a P value of less than 0. 001, which was considered to be statistically significant. Among different clinicopathologic variables, serum and tissue HER-2/nu were significantly correlated with only tumor grade. Conclusion: A significantly increased release of HER2 ECD levels may accurately predict tumor HER2 status as detected with immunohistochemistry and/or in situ hybridizations studies.

Background: Ovarian cancer is the second most prevalent gynecological malignancy. Its prognosis is poor with a five-year survival rate of <50% with the available therapies. There is a constant need for new biological markers. Therefore, we conducted the present study to evaluate the association between human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) neu and the clinicopathological features of epithelial ovarian cancer.Method: A prospective, observational analytic study was conducted at Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi between November 2018 and October 2019. It was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative correlational study design.Results: We recruited 90 patients. The mean age of diagnosis was 53 ± 8.022 years; 81.1% (n = 73) had raised pretreatment CA-125 levels with stage III (56.7%, n = 51) and grade III (54.4%, n = 49) at presentation. It was seen that 24.4% (n = 22) of the tumors expressed HER2/neu, 65.6% (n = 59) were negative and 10% (n = 9) were equivocal. 72.2% had platinum sensitive disease. According to HER2/neu status, 20% HER2/neu positive patients had platinum sensitive disease and 3.3% had resistant disease; meanwhile, 47.8% HER2/neu negative patients had platinum sensitive disease and 10% were platinum resistant. HER2/neu expression was significantly associated with grade (P = 0.040) and pretreatment CA-125 levels (P = 0.032) whereas our study failed to show a significant association between stage (P = 0.383) and chemotherapy response (P = 0.055).Conclusion: The current study demonstrated that HER2/neu was positive in 24.4% of the patients, which was significantly associated with grade and pretreatment CA-125 level. However, a longer follow-up is needed for survival analysis and establishment of HER2/neu as a prognostic marker for epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Wilms' tumor is an emberyonal tumor arising from remnants of immature renal tissue. Her2/neu is an onco-protein which mediates cellular proliferation, differentiation and survival.Methods: In the current study, we analyzed Her2/neu expression in 40 Wilms' tumors. The clinico-demographic data of 40 patients with Wilms' tumor were retrieved. Immunohistochemical staining for HER2/neu was performed.Her2/neuimmunoreactivity was evaluated by Canadian Consensus 2007 scoring system.Results: Among the 38 specimens with epithelial component, 68.5% were positive for Her2/neu, whereas there was immunoreactivity in 37% of 38 blastemal, and 12% of 31 stromal components. The Her2/neu expression was significantly higher in early stages (81.5%) than in advanced stages (36.4%) in epithelial component, but not in other components.Conclusion: This study suggested that Her2/neuexpression is associated with epithelial cell differentiation accompanied by lower stages of tumor. No significant relationship was found between Her2/neu positivity and tumor size and patient's age and gender.