Histopathological analysis of ovarian tumours and overexpression of HER2/neu in ovarian carcinomas

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Original Article

Author Details : Pooja Pathak*, Sunita Bamanikar, Abhinav Shetty, Harsh Kumar, Archana Buch

Volume : 6, Issue : 3, Year : 2019

Article Page : 440-444

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijpo.2019.084

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Abstract

Introduction: Ovarian carcinoma is a serious disease prevailing in women and is the fifth most common malignancy. It is the second most common gynecologic malignancy, and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women in developed countries. The absence of any specific symptoms, the location of the ovaries which are deeply seated and are relatively inaccesible and without any specific markers, ovarian carcinoma is difficult to detect early. HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) proto-oncogene encodes protein belonging to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase receptor family.
Aims and Objectives: 1) Clinicopathological analysis of ovarian tumours 2) To study the overexpression of HER2/neu in ovarian carcinoma.
Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective and prospective study carried out in the Department of Pathology, Dr D.Y. Patil Medical College, Pune. A total of 134 ovarian tumours were received for histopathological examination. The sections of all the tumours were stained by hematoxylin and eosin stain. The malignant tumours were also stained using HER2/neu antibody following the immunohistochemical (IHC) procedure.
Observation and Results: Of the total 134 ovarian tumours, 103 (77%) were benign tumours and 31 (23%) were malignant tumours. The most common type of ovarian tumours was Surface epithelial stromal tumours (71.7). Overexpression of HER2/neu was seen in 6.4% of malignant tumours.
Conclusion: Histopathological study is important in diagnosis of ovarian tumours and predicts their prognosis. HER2/neu can be a good prognostic marker with scope for targeted therapy, requiring further evaluation in a larger sample size.

Keywords: Ovary, carcinoma, HER2/neu, Overexpression.

How to cite : Pathak P, Bamanikar S, Shetty A , Kumar H, Buch A , Histopathological analysis of ovarian tumours and overexpression of HER2/neu in ovarian carcinomas. Indian J Pathol Oncol 2019;6(3):440-444

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