Abstract
A role for the EGF system, in particular HER1 and 2, in growth of the endometrium has been suggested but HER1 and 2 have not been studied in all locations of endometriosis and in ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma (OEC) which is a rare form of malignant transformation of endometriosis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used for studying HER1 and HER2 in ovarian (n = 10), peritoneal (n = 10), colorectal endometriosis (n = 20) and OEC (n = 10). Fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) was used for analysing the status of HER2 gene in colorectal endometriosis and OEC. All samples were negative for HER2 in both glandular and stromal cells and in glandular cells for HER1 by IHC. In 15 out of 20 colorectal endometriosis, there was a weak expression in stromal cells. Following FISH, two colorectal samples had a partial 17 aneusomy and three OEC, a 17 polysomy. The other samples were 17 disomic without HER2 amplification; HER1 and 2 do not seem to have a role in endometriosis physiopathology.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Casalini P, Iorio MV, Galmozzi E et al (2004) Role of HER receptors family in development and differentiation. J Cell Physiol 200:343–350
Bhargava R, Gerald WL, Li AR et al (2005) EGFR gene amplification in breast cancer: correlation with epidermal growth factor receptor mRNA and protein expression and HER-2 status and absence of EGFR-activating mutations. Mod Pathol 18:1027–1033
Pérez-Soler R (2004) HER1/EGFR targeting: refining the strategy. Oncologist 9:58–67
Brumm C, Rivière A, Wilckens C et al (1990) Immunohistochemical investigation and northern blot analysis of c-erB-2 expression in normal, premalignant and malignant tissues of the corpus and cervix uteri. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol 417:477–484
Press MF, Cordon-Cardo C, Slamon DJ (1990) Expression of the HER-2/neu proto-oncogene in normal human adult and fetal tissues. Oncogene 5:953–962
Wang DP, Fujii S, Konishi I et al (1992) Expression of c-erbB-2 protein and epidermal growth factor receptor in normal tissues of the female genital tract and in the placenta. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol 420:385–393
Ejskjaer K, Sørensen BS, Poulsen SS et al (2005) Expression of the epidermal growth factor system in human endometrium during the menstrual cycle. Mol Hum Reprod 11:543–551
Niikura H, Sasano H, Kaga K et al (1996) Expression of epidermal growth factor family proteins and epidermal growth factor receptor in human endometrium. Hum Pathol 27:282–289
Ejskjaer K, Sørensen BS, Poulsen SS et al (2007) Expression of the epidermal growth factor system in endometrioid endometrial cancer. Gynecol Oncol 104:158–167
Stovall DW, Bowser LM, Archer DF et al (1997) Endometriosis-associated pelvic pain: evidence for an association between the stage of disease and a history of chronic pelvic pain. Fertil Steril 68:13–18
Vercellini P, Trespidi L, De Giorgi O et al (1996) Endometriosis and pelvic pain: relation to disease stage and localization. Fertil Steril 65:299–304
Jenkins S, Olive DL, Haney AF (1986) Endometriosis: pathogenetic implications of the anatomic distribution. Obstet Gynecol 67:335–338
Dubernard G, Piketty M, Rouzier R et al (2006) Quality of life after laparoscopic colorectal resection for endometriosis. Hum Reprod 21:1243–1247
Vigano P, Somigliana E, Chiodo I et al (2006) Molecular mechanisms and biological plausibility underlying the malignant transformation of endometriosis: a critical analysis. Human Reprod Update 12:77–89
Hsieh YY, Chang CC, Tsai FJ et al (2005) T homozygote, allele of epidermal growth factor receptor 2073 gene polymorphism are associated with higher susceptibility to endometriosis and leiomyomas. Fertil Steril 83:796–799
Melega C, Balducci M, Bulletti C et al (1991) Tissue factors influencing growth and maintenance of endometriosis. Ann N Y Acad Sci 622:256–265
Nasu K, Hayata T, Takai N et al (1995) Immunohistochemical study of c-erb B-2 protein expression in endometriosis. Hum Reprod 10:935–937
Schneider J, Jimenez E, Rodriguez F et al (1998) c-myc, c-erb-B2, nm23 and p53 expression in human endometriosis. Oncol Rep 5:49–52
Marwah N, Bansal C, Gupta S et al (2007) Immunohistochemical study of the expression of HER-2/neu oncogene in ovarian lesions. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 50:489–492
Berek JS, Schultes BC, Nicodemus CF (2003) Biologic and immunologic therapies for ovarian cancer. J Clin Oncol 21:168–174
Malamou-Mitsi V, Crikoni O, Timotheadou E (2007) Prognostic significance of HER-2, p53 and Bcl-2 in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Anticancer Res 27:1157–1165
Sasaki N, Kudoh K, Kita T et al (2007) Effect of HER-2/neu overexpression on chemoresistance and prognosis in ovarian carcinoma. J Obstet Gynaecol Res 33:17–23
Tubbs RR, Pettay JD, Roche PC et al (2001) Discrepancies in clinical laboratory testing of eligibility for trastuzumab therapy: apparent immunohistochemical false-positives do not get the message. J Clin Oncol 19:2714–2721
Gong Y, Yan K, Lin F et al (2007) Determination of oestrogen-receptor status and ERBB2 status of breast carcinoma: a gene-expression profiling study. Lancet Oncol 8:203–211
Inagaki M, Yoshida S, Kennedy S et al (2007) Association study between epidermal growth factor receptor and epidermal growth factor polymorphisms and endometriosis in a Japanese population. Gynecol Endocrinol 24:1–5
Tuefferd M, Couturier J, Penault-Llorca F et al (2007) HER2 status in ovarian carcinomas: a multicenter GINECO study of 320 patients. PLoS ONE 2:1138
Noack F, Schmidt H, Buchweitz O (2004) Genomic imbalance and onco-protein expression of ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma arisen in an endometriotic cyst. Anticancer Res 24:151–154
Bunn PA Jr, Dziadziuszko R, Varella-Garcia M et al (2006) Biological markers for non-small cell lung cancer patient selection for epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Clin Cancer Res 12:3652–3656
Li AR, Chitale D, Riely GJ et al (1995) Immunohistochemical study of c-erb B-2 protein expression in endometriosis. Hum Reprod 10:935–937
Ladanyi M (2008) EGFR mutations in lung adenocarcinomas: clinical testing experience and relationship to EGFR gene copy number and immunohistochemical expression. J Mol Diagn 10:242–248
Ichihara S, Toyooka S, Fujiwara Y et al (2007) The impact of epidermal growth factor receptor gene status on gefitinib-treated Japanese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. Int J Cancer 120:1239–1247
Kim MA, Lee HS, Lee HE et al (2008) EGFR in gastric carcinomas: prognostic significance of protein overexpression and high gene copy number. Histopathology 52:738–746
Acknowledgements
The authors want to thank P. Duvillard and F. Drusch for their efficient help in this study
Conflicts of interest statement
We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uzan, C., Darai, E., Valent, A. et al. Status of HER1 and HER2 in peritoneal, ovarian and colorectal endometriosis and ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Virchows Arch 454, 525–529 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-009-0755-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-009-0755-5