Issue
Copyright (c) 2025 Khouloud Ben Lazreg, Ahlem Bdioui, Maroua Krifa, Zaineb Lajmi, Oussem Belkacem, Mariem Alaya, Yasmine Ben Romdhane, Sarra Mestiri, Sihem Hmissa, Nabiha Missaoui
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The undersigned hereby assign all rights, included but not limited to copyright, for this manuscript to CMB Association upon its submission for consideration to publication on Cellular and Molecular Biology. The rights assigned include, but are not limited to, the sole and exclusive rights to license, sell, subsequently assign, derive, distribute, display and reproduce this manuscript, in whole or in part, in any format, electronic or otherwise, including those in existence at the time this agreement was signed. The authors hereby warrant that they have not granted or assigned, and shall not grant or assign, the aforementioned rights to any other person, firm, organization, or other entity. All rights are automatically restored to authors if this manuscript is not accepted for publication.Low frequency of HER2 expression in colorectal cancer: A Tunisian single-center study
Corresponding Author(s) : Nabiha Missaoui
Cellular and Molecular Biology,
Vol. 71 No. 7: Issue 7
Abstract
HER2 expression is a potential theranostic and prognostic marker in some cancers, particularly in breast and gastric cancers. However, published data on HER2 expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain controversial. This study investigates the immunohistochemical and molecular expression of HER2 in primary CRC and evaluates its clinicopathological and prognostic significance in Tunisian patients. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 144 CRC patients. HER2 status was assessed by immunohistochemistry and tissue microarray analysis, following the diagnostic criteria for gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. CRC cases with ambiguous results underwent chromogenic in situ hybridization. The mean patient age was 61.9 years (male-to-female ratio: 1.18:1). Tumors were classified as colonic (74.3%) or rectal (25.7%), with 45.8% located in the left colon. Stage III disease was identified in 37.5% of cases, and distant metastases were present in 13.9%. HER2 expression results were as follows: negative (score 0/1+) in 142 cases (98.6%), equivocal (score 2+) in one case (0.7%), and overexpressed (score 3+) in one case (0.7%). No HER2 gene amplification was detected, and none of the metastatic CRC cases showed HER2 immunostaining. These findings suggest that HER2 overexpression and amplification in CRC are rarer than previously reported, highlighting the need for multicenter Tunisian studies to validate these results. The variability in HER2 immunostaining criteria further underscores the importance of a standardized scoring system to ensure consistency in both diagnosis and research.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
