Absence of amplification of HER-2/neu (c-erbB-2) gene in Ewing's Sarcoma:: a real-time polymerase chain reaction method

Amplification and overexpression of the HER-2/neu (c-erbB-2) oncogene have been observed in many cancers and are associated with a poor prognosis particularly in breast cancer. The human epidermal growth factor (HER)-2 receptor has recently been implicated in Ewing's sarcoma tumor cell line growth and chemo sensitivity. The present study evaluates the amplification of HER-2/neu gene in paraffin sections from 42 cases of Ewing's sarcoma by a realtime quantitative polymerase reaction method using LightCycler system (Roche diagnostics, GmbH Mannheim, Germany). The relative copy number of HER-2/neu versus beta-globin was calculated at the crossing point. The mean calculated copy number in these cases of Ewing's sarcoma and normal controls was 26.43 and 26.93, respectively. The p value was 0.215 (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrated an absence of HER-21neu oncogene amplification in Ewing's sarcomas, and we suggest that HER-21neu is not a biologically or therapeutically important pathway in Ewing's sarcoma. (C) 2004 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.