Abstrait

HER2 Status Examination of Biopsy Specimens from Gastric Mucosa

Ooi Akishi

ERBB2 (also called HER2) is a 185 kDa transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor. Overexpression as a result of HER2 gene amplification on chromosome 17q11.2-q12 has been observed in solid tumors including gastric and breast cancers1. HER2 is amplified in 7%-20% of gastric cancers2-5. Overexpressed HER2 is a therapeutic target of Trastuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the extracellular juxtamembrane domain of ERBB2 and inhibits the proliferation and survival of HER2-overexpressing cancer cells6 (Figure 1).