Changes Of Serum HER-2 Extracellular Domain Levels Of Pre- And Post Surgical And Chemotherapy As Well As Their Clinical Significance In Breast Cancer Patients

Objective:To measure the serum Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER-2) extracellular domain(ECD) of pre- and post surgical and chemotherapy in breast cancer patients using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA),and evaluate the clinical implication of variations in serum HER-2 ECD level before and after treatment of breast cancer patients.Methods:Serum from 59 breast cancer,33 benign mastopathia and 58 healthy women pre- and post surgery or chemotherapy were assayed by ELISA.To evaluate the correlation between serum HER-2 ECD level and menopausal state,estrogen receptor state(ER),progesterone receptor state (PR),lymph node metastasis,tumor size,tumor clinical stage and so on. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 13.0 softwares,P＜0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:The serum HER-2 ECD level≥15ng/ml was positive or increasing group and＜15ng/ml was negative or nonincreasing group.Serum HER-2 ECD average level of 58 healthy women and 33 benign mastopathia was respectively (6.81±2.19) ng/ml and(6.75±2.32) ng/ml,both of the two groups had no positive result.30.5%of serum HER-2 ECD level of 59 breast cancer patients was positive(18/59),the average level was(11.73±5.64) ng/ml,there was significant difference between serum HER-2 ECD levels of breast cancer and the levels of healthy women and benign mastopathia.Serum HER-2 ECD level of 59 breast cancer patients was strongly correlated with tumor size and clinical stages.89.8%(53/59) of 59 breast cancer patients and 69.7%(23/33) of 33 benign mastopathia patients with decreasing levels of serum HER-2 ECD after surgery showed difference between the two groups.100.0%(8/8) of patients with increasing levels of HER-2 ECD(8/59)and 74.51%(38/51)of patients with non-increasing levels of HER-2 ECD(51/59) responded to chemotherapy, showing no difference between the two groups.Conclusion:(1) Serum HER-2 ECD level of 59 breast cancer patients was higher than healthy women and benign mastopathia,it correlated with tumor size and tumor clinical stage.(2) Serum HER-2 ECD level of 59 breast cancer patients decreased more than benign mastopathia after removal of the primary tumor,and its decreasing correlated with tumor clinical stage.This showed that the serum HER-2 ECD level may predict the surgery response of breast cancer patients.(3) The decreasing of serum HER-2 ECD level of breast cancer patients after chemotherapy have no correlation with menopausal state,ER,PR,lymph node metastasis,tumor size and tumor clinical stage,which showed kinetic monitoring of the changes of serum HER-2 ECD level in breast cancer patients may represent a valuable tool for evaluating clinical response to chemotherapy.