Prognostic Significance of HER3 Expression in Patients with Cervical Cancer

Abstract

HER3 has been recognized to have an oncogenic role in various types of cancer. However, its prognostic significance has not been elucidated in cervical cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of HER3 expression in cervical cancer using immunohistochemistry (IHC). HER3 immunohistochemical staining was performed on the tumor tissue samples of 336 cervical cancer patients. The association between the clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival analysis was assessed according to HER3 expression. HER3 IHC staining was positive in 31.0% (104/336) of the cervical cancer patients. A higher proportion of adeno-/adenosquamous carcinoma was observed in the HER3-positive group (34.6%) than in the HER3-negative group (18.8%). In survival analysis, HER3 expression was significantly associated with poorer disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively). Multivariate analysis also indicated that HER3 expression was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.42−4.67, p = 0.002) and OS (HR = 3.21, 95% CI, 1.26−8.14, p = 0.014). HER3 protein expression was a poor prognostic factor of survival in patients with cervical cancer. This finding could help to provide individualized management for these patients.

Keywords: HER3; cervical cancer; human epidermal growth factor receptor; immunohistochemistry; prognosis.

Figure 1

Immunohistochemical expression of (A) HER3, (B) pHER3 protein, and (C) the negative expression of HER3/pHER3 protein in cervical cancer patients.

Figure 2

Kaplan–Meier graph illustrating disease-free survival (DFS) according to HER3 and pHER3 expression in patients with cervical cancer. (A) DFS according to HER3 expression in total patients, (B) DFS according to pHER3 expression in total patients, (C) DFS according to HER3 expression in patients without adjuvant treatment, (D) DFS according to pHER3 expression in patients without adjuvant treatment, (E) DFS according to HER3 expression in patients with adjuvant radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy, (F) DFS according to pHER3 expression in patients with adjuvant radiotherapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy.