Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization, Immunohistochemistry, And Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Adsorption Study Of The Combined Detection Of Breast Cancer Her2/neu Expression Status

Objective:To compare two assay met hods,namely fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH)and immunohistochemistry(IHC),in the detection of HER2/neu status in breast cancer tissues.To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH)in detection of HER2/neu gene amplification in breast cancer tissue. To detect serum HER2/neu level in patients with operable breast cancer and its relationship with tissue HER2/neu overexpression as well as other factors.Methods:Cancer tissue samples were taken from excised tissues from 50 women with breast cancer.IHC technique was applied to detect the HER2/neu protein in the cytomembrane of breast cancer,and FISH was used to assess the amplification of HER2/neu gene.Kappa test was employed to compare the results by the two methods. Fasting blood of the samples was drawn,the level of serum HER2/neu was detected by the method of ELISA.x~2test was used to assess the correlations between serum HER2/neu level and the factors.Results:The coincident rate of the two methods was 90%,there fore there was a significant positive correlation between the two techniques(K=0.75,P＜0.05).The amplification rate of HER-2 gene is 28%in the tested group.Elevated serum HER2/neu level is 7/50(14%)in operable patients.There was a correlation between serum HER2/neu level and tumor size(P＜0.05),and a correlation between serum HER2/neu level and tissue HER2/neu overexpression(P＜0.05),there was no correlation between serum concentration and axillary lymph node or estrogen(P＞0.05).Conclusions:The two assay methods,IHC and FISH showed a good coincidence in the detection of HER2/neu status in breast cancer tissues.FISH can be the final detection of HER2/neu gene.There was a correlation between serum HER2/neu level and tumor size,and a correlation between serum HER2/neu level and tissue HER2/neu overexpression.It is complementary to tissue HER2/neu level.