HER 2/neu as a theranostic marker in colorectal carcinoma and its relationship with histopathological correlates-A pilot study

Introduction: Colorectal carcinoma(CRC) is one among the many leading causes of cancer related mortality worldwide. The survival rate of patients with CRC is better because of advancements made in the treatment modalities, in terms of surgery and chemotherapeutic options. This study is done to know the immunoexpression of Her 2/neu in CRC and its correlation with histologic grades. Her 2/ neu is considered to be a beneficial Immunohistochemical (IHC) marker for colon cancer which can be used for predicting the prognosis and for targeted therapeutic modality. Materials and Method: The present pilot study was done to understand the expression of Her 2 /neu in histologically proven 25 cases of adenocarcinoma colon using monoclonal anti Her 2 /neu antibody (Biogenix). Positivity was recorded as per the consensus panel recommendations on Her 2/neu scoring.(1) The clinical profile of the patients were obtained from the archives in the Pathology department of our institution. Results: This study had a total of 25 hemicolectomy specimens of colorectal carcinoma. Of the total 25 cases, 14 cases (56%) were males and 11 cases (44%) were females. Forty percentage of patients were in the age group of 50-60 years. Histopathologically, most of them were adenocarcinomas. Her 2/neu expression was negative in all the 25 cases of colorectal carcinoma in our study. The control tissue was Her 2 /neu positive breast carcinoma with complete membrane staining in the tumor cells(3+). Conclusions: Her 2/neu is considered as a therapeutic modality in advanced and metastatic CRC cases. This was a pilot study and we need to perform the IHC stain on more cases to understand its expression in our population.