Association of Her-2 Expression and Clinicopathological Parameters in Colorectal Carcinoma in Indian Population

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) is an oncogenic gene and a well-established therapeutic target in several cancers including breast and ovary.

The present study aimed to compare HER-2 expression status with histological grades as well as Clinicopathological parameters including age, bleeding per rectum, pain/burning sensation in defecation and exercise.

Her-2 status was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Results of the study shows that 40.96% patients were Her-2 positive for expression and a statistically significant difference (p-value = 0.004) was observed in histological grades where most of the cases were of grade II. We also observed a significant difference in histological grades with gender (p-value = 0.04), as well as in both the age groups ≤ 55 years and > 55 years (p-value = < 0.0001). Patients with the bleeding rectum and pain/burning sensation in defecation had grade II/III tumours (93.4%, 88.7%) respectively. A significant association was observed between bleeding per rectum and pain/burning sensation in defecation. About 95% of patients with pain/burning sensation in defecation had bleeding per rectum.

To conclude, Her-2 can be a potential prognostic marker in CRC. The role of age, tumour grade and bleeding per rectum/burning sensation in defecation are of significant worth. Thus, CRC cases of high grades can be screened for HER-2/neu positivity so that they can be subjected to mAb-based individualised therapy.