Abstract:
Background: Despite improvement in surgical techniques combined with chemotherapy and /or radiotherapy, the prognosis of gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma at the advance stage still remained poor. However, there is mounting evidence of the role of HER-2 expression in patients with these cancers.
Aim: To determine the patterns of HER-2 protein expression in patients with gastric or oesophageal adenocarcinoma at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Ghana
Method: Retrospectively, records on gastric and oesophageal biopsies received between 2008 and 2012 (KBTH) were reviewed. Ideal tissue blocks were selected for immunohistochemistry analysis. The prevalence of gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma, and their significant association with HER-2 protein over-expression were evaluated.
Result: A prevalence of 18.79% gastric adenocarcinoma was observed among gastric biopsies and majority of this cancers occurred in males. Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) was over-expressed in 41.4% of the gastric adenocarcinomas and was significantly more common in patients older than 55 years and with intestinal type of adenocarcinoma. Though, Squamous cell carcinoma still remains the commonest cancer (31%) type of the oesophagus, compared to oesophageal adenocarcinoma (8.79%), HER-2 was over-expressed in 42.9% of oesophageal adenocarcinoma which is similar to that of gastric adenocarcinoma (41.4%).
Conclusion: Routine testing for HER-2 in gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma patients can have significant implication on the management or treatments options offered such patients, which may potentially affect their prognosis.
