Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression in women with uterine cervix adenocarcinoma from Appalachian Kentucky

Charles A Kunos; Denise Fabian; Dava W Piecoro; Dana Napier; Rachel W Miller; Frederick R Ueland

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.948348

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression in women with uterine cervix adenocarcinoma from Appalachian Kentucky

Front Oncol. 2023 Jan 24:13:948348. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.948348. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Charles A Kunos¹, Denise Fabian¹, Dava W Piecoro², Dana Napier³, Rachel W Miller⁴, Frederick R Ueland⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
² Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
³ Biospecimen Procurement & Translational Pathology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: High-risk human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive adenocarcinomas associate with early recurrence and death, prompting consideration of novel radiotherapeutic options like a trastuzumab-linked thorium-227 alpha-particle emitting radionuclide.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective pilot biomarker study of uterine cervix cancers among patients in Appalachian Kentucky, to characterize an exploitable triage biomarker like HER2 expression before starting a prospective phase 0 trial.

Results: Most (60%) adenocarcinomas showed HER2 cell-surface overexpression, whereas squamous cell carcinomas (4%) did not do so.

Discussion: Further validation tests of HER2 expression as a triage biomarker for radiopharmaceutical selection are warranted.

Keywords: HER2/neu; radiopharmaceutical; triage; uterine cervical adenocarcinoma; uterine cervical cancer.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by an NCI grant (P30 CA177558) which supports the Biospecimen Procurement & Translational Pathology and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource Facilities of the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.