Prognostic and clinical significance of HER-2 low expression in early-stage gastric cancer

INTRODUCTION: Gastric cancer is the most fifth common tumor worldwide. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression is associated with poor prognosis and clinical characteristics in gastric cancer. Nevertheless, the biology of HER2-low expression has not reported in gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 157 patients with early-stage gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed. The associations between HER-2 low expression and clinical characteristics were analyzed by Chi-square test. And the prognostic value of HER-2 low expression and clinical characteristics in disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 157 patients with early-stage gastric cancer, 31.8% had HER2-low tumors and 50.3% had HER2-negative tumors. HER2-low expression was associated with age, histological differentiation, tumor location and Ki-67 index. However, HER2-low expression was not associated with DFS or OS in early-stage gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: HER2-low expression might result in distinct biology, but it was not an independent prognostic factor of DFS or OS in early-stage gastric cancer.