Expression of Her2/neu receptor in carcinoma gallbladder correlates significantly with advanced tumor stage

Aims: Overexpression of Her2/neu is associated with increased disease recurrence and worse prognosis in many cancers. The aim of this study was to correlate Her2/neu positivity with the histopathological features in carcinoma gallbladder. Methods: This study was conducted on 54 cholecystectomy specimens of carcinoma gallbladder in a superspecialty referral center from January 2007 to July 2011. A gross evaluation of tumor, study of histopathology and immunohistochemical staining was done for Her2/neu. The relative frequency of Her2/neu positivity was scored and correlated with other histological prognostic parameters of the tumor. Results: Maximum cases in our study were in stage T2 at the time of diagnosis and most of them were moderately differentiated carcinoma. Her2/neu was strongly positive in five cases (9.25%) of gallbladder cancer and 14 cases (25.92%) showed moderate positivity. There was a lot of heterogeneity in the expression of Her2/neu showing 1+ and 2+ positivity in different areas. No correlation was seen between immunohistochemical staining pattern and tumor grade, but frequency of Her2/neu positive cases was highest in advanced stage (p = 0.042). Conclusion: Her2/neu expression occurs in gallbladder cancer, especially in advanced stage disease and its therapeutic targeting seems promising.