The age variation of HER2 immunohistochemistry positive rate in biopsy specimens of gastric cancer

Abstract Aims The aim of this study was to explore HER2 status and characteristics in biopsy specimens of gastric cancer (GC) in Chinese population. Methods and results A total of 27787 biopsy specimens of GC from 103 hospitals were obtained. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of HER2 was performed. Overall HER2 IHC positive rate was 11.2%. HER2 positive rate elevated with the increase of age in total patients and both genders. The rates were 7.1%, 8.1%, 9.0%, 10.9%, 11.8%, 12.6%, and 12.1% when patient age was ≤30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, and >80, respectively (P  Conclusions The HER2 IHC positive rate showed age variation in biopsy specimens of GC. In male the variation was more dramatic than in female. The variation of HER2 positive rate can be attributed to the age variation of the Lauren subtypes.