The prevalence of overexpression of C-erbB-2 oncoprotein in men with carcinoma of the prostate as seen in Mulago Hospital.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Over expression of C-erbB-2 also called Human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER-2) has been described in several human carcinomas including that of prostate. Over expression of C-erbB-2 has been reported to have prognostic role and to predict likelihood of resistance to hormonal therapy in prostate cancer and now it’s being looked at as a prognostic factor as well as a target for therapy. OBJECTIVE: Was to determine the over expression of C-erbB-2 oncoprotein using immune histochemistry in 40 patients that presented to Mulago Hospital between 1st august 2001 to 28th February 2002 with prostate cancer. METHODS: Tissues were obtained from patients with clinical diagnosis of prostate cancer by sextant biopsy. Only those with confirmed diagnosis were included in the study and immunohistochemical staining with a polyclonal antibody was performed on paraffin sections. To standardize the staining, the manufacturer (DAKO) supplied positive and negative control material. A well defined scoring system based upon numbers of C-erbB-2 on the cell surface was applied. Over expression was defined as score greater than or equal to 2. RESULTS: Positive membrane staining was detected in 18 of 40. There was association between C-erbB-2 over expression and unary retention (p=0.038), frequency (p=0.025) and poor urinary stream (p=0.038). There was no association between C-erbB-2 oncoprotein and histological grade. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of the patients over expressed C-erbB-2 via immunohistochemical staining. Significant correlation was found between poor urinary stream, frequency, urinary retention and C-erbB-2.