HER3 Expression Is a Marker of Tumor Progression in Premalignant Lesions of the Gastroesophageal Junction

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 25;11(8):e0161781. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161781. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Overexpression of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK), including members of the HER family, has prognostic and therapeutic significance in invasive esophagogastric carcinoma. RTK expression in premalignant gastroesophageal lesions has not been extensively explored. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of esophageal biopsy specimens from 73 patients with Barrett's esophagus with either low-grade dysplasia (LGD) (n = 32) or high-grade dysplasia (HGD) (n = 59) were analyzed for HER1, HER2, HER3 and CMET expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Immunophenotype was correlated with histologic and clinical features. High-grade dysplasia (HGD) was associated with overexpression of HER1 (20.7% vs. 3.1%, p = 0.023), HER2 (5.3% vs. 0.0%, p = 0.187) and HER3 (47.4% vs. 9.4%, p<0.001) compared to low-grade dysplasia (LGD). There was a significant association of HER2 (20.0% vs. 2.1%, p = 0.022) and HER3 (80.0% vs. 40.4%, p = 0.023) overexpression in HGD lesions associated with foci of invasive carcinoma compared to those without invasive foci. Overexpression of CMET was observed in 42.9% of specimens, was increasingly observed with HGD compared to LGD (58.3% vs. 36.7%, p = 0.200), and was most often co-expressed with HER3 (62.5% of HER3-positive specimens vs. 38.2% of HER3-negative specimens, p = 0.212). In summary, HER3 is frequently overexpressed in high-grade dysplastic lesions of the gastroesophageal junction and may be a marker of invasive progression. These data provide rationale for targeting HER2 and HER3 pathways in an early disease setting to prevent disease progression.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Barrett Esophagus / metabolism*
  • Barrett Esophagus / pathology
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Esophageal Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Esophageal Neoplasms / pathology
  • Esophagogastric Junction / metabolism*
  • Esophagogastric Junction / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / genetics
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / metabolism
  • Receptor, ErbB-3 / genetics
  • Receptor, ErbB-3 / metabolism*

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • ERBB2 protein, human
  • ERBB3 protein, human
  • Receptor, ErbB-2
  • Receptor, ErbB-3

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Thomas B. McCabe and Jeannette E. Laws McCabe Fund (http://www.med.upenn.edu/evdresearch/mccabefundawardprogram.html), received by RR; and Pennies in Action, received by RR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.