Is C-ERB B-2 a predictor for recurrent disease in early stage breast cancer?

Purpose: To assess the prognostic importance of c-erb B-2 expression in early stage breast cancer. Methods and Materials: Immunohistochemical analysis for c-erb B-2 over-expression was retrospectively performed on 107 paraffin-embedded specimens of women with Stage I or II breast cancer entered in a randomized trial. Results were correlated with known prognostic factors such as pathologic axillary involvement, T-size, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and nuclear grade. Immunohistochemical staining for c-erb B-2 protein expression was also correlated with breast/chest wall failure as well as survival without evidence of disease (NED) and overall survival. Results: C-erb B-2 overexpression was positive in 21% of the biopsy specimens. A significant association was found between c-erb-2 positivity and lesions containing an intraductal component, with 62% of lesions staining positively for c-erb B-2 having an intraductal component compared to only 36% of lesions with an intraductal component staining negatively for the c-erb B-2 protein (p2 = .031). A significant correlation between c-erb B-2 protein over-expression and axillary nodal status, primary tumor size, nuclear grade, and estrogen and progesterone receptor status was not identified. Cox proportional hazards model did not show a significant effect of c-erb B-2 expression for NED or overall survival. Conclusion: Our study did not find over-expression of c-erb B-2 to reliably predict for recurrent disease in early stage breast cancer. This data can be added to other series comparing erb B-2 expression and disease outcome among node-positive and node-negative women with carcinoma of the breast.