The relationship between c-erbB-2 expression, S-phase fraction and prognosis in breast cancer

The relationship between c-erbB-2 gene expression (assessed immunohistochemically), S-phase fraction (SPF) and prognosis has been analysed in 172 women with primary breast cancer. c-erbB-2 staining was independent of age, tumour size, number of nodes involved, tumour grade and DNA ploidy, but was more common in oestrogen receptor (ER) negative tumours (P = 0.02) and progesterone receptor (PgR) negative tumours (P = 0.03). A weak correlation between c-erbB-2 staining and SPF was observed (r = 0.18). Amongst women with node negative disease, SPF was significantly related to relapse free survival (RFS, P = 0.04) while c-erbB-2 staining was not (P = 0.2). In contrast, both SPF (P = 0.002) and c-erbB-2 staining (P = 0.016) provided significant prognostic information on RFS for women with node positive disease. Multivariate analysis showed that c-erbB-2 staining and SPF gave independent information on RFS for women with node positive disease.