Study on the expression of c-erbB-2 in non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To study the clinical significance of the expression of c-erbB-2 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). Methods Immunohistochemical method (SABC) was used to detect the expression level of the c-erbB-2 in 65 NSCLC tissue and 20 normal lung tissue specimens. Results c-erbB-2 was stained mainly in the cytoplasm and /or in the surface of NSCLC cells with positive rate of 63.1%. In normal lung tissue, the positive rate of c-erbB-2 was 10%. There were significant difference(P0.05)between the two groups. The positive rate of c-erbB-2 in squamous carcinoma was 62.5% and the adenocarcinoma 63.6%. No significant difference(P0.05)were found between the two groups. The frequency of c-erbB-2 expression in histological grade Ⅰ+Ⅱ was 57.6% and the grade Ⅲ 68.8%. No significant difference(P0.05)were found between the two groups. The positive rate of c-erbB-2 in the stage Ⅰ+Ⅱ was 60% and the stage Ⅲ+Ⅳ 66.7%. There were no significant difference(P0.05)between the two groups. In the group with lymph node metastasis and the group without lymph node metastasis, the positive rate of c-erbB-2 expression were 73.7% and 48.1% respectively. Significant difference(P0.05)were found between the two groups. Conclusions c-erbB-2 could be used as markers of malignant potential and prognosis factor of NSCLC