The values of HER-2 expression in the non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a retrospective clinical study

Shuo Wang; Yongpeng Ji; Yiqiang Liu; Peng Du; Jinchao Ma; Xiao Yang; Ziyi Yu; Yong Yang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1243118

The values of HER-2 expression in the non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: a retrospective clinical study

Front Oncol. 2023 Nov 27:13:1243118. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1243118. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Shuo Wang^#¹, Yongpeng Ji^#¹, Yiqiang Liu^#², Peng Du¹, Jinchao Ma¹, Xiao Yang¹, Ziyi Yu¹, Yong Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Urological Department, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China.
² Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education), Department of Pathology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to evaluate the association between HER-2 expression and clinicopathological features in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Methods: Between 2019 and 2022, 204 patients treated with Transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) were included in this study. Data of pathologic T (pT) stage, grades of the tumor, age, sex, tumor size and number of the tumors were collected and compared according to the expression level of the human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER-2). ROC curve analysis was performed to assess the discriminative ability of HER-2 expression for tumors grades and pT stage. Multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the association between HER-2 expression and tumor grades and pT stage.

Results: Patients were divided into low grade (110, 53.9%) and high grade groups (94, 46.1%) according to the tumor grade. Pathologic stage consisted of pTa in 166 (81.4%) and pT1 in 38 (18.6%). HER-2 expression was semi quantitatively scored to 0 in 44 (21.6%), 1 in 58 (28.4%), 2 in 91 (44.6%), and 3 in 11 (5.4%) cases. HER-2 expression was significantly associated with tumor stages and histological grades, but not with sex, tumor size or number of tumors. The AUC for combination of HER-2 expression with tumor stages and histological grades was 0.652 (p < 0.003) and 0.727 (p < 0.001), respectively.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that HER-2 expression is associated with tumor stages and histological grades in NMIBC. It has diagnostic value for cystoscopic biopsy.

Keywords: IHC; ROC curve analyses; antibody-drug conjugate; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2); non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Science foundation of Peking University Cancer Hospital. 2021-7. Capital’s Funds for Health Improvement and Research. 2022-1G-1021.