Search

HER2/neu is an efficient target for cancer therapy. However, reports about its overexpression rate in colorectal carcinomas showed wide variability. This study aims to investigate HER2/neu expression in colorectal carcinomas using these two rabbit monoclonal HER2/neu antibodies, and to clarify the relationship between protein overexpression and gene amplification of HER2/neu and their clinicopathologic importance. Tissue microarray was performed from sections of 106 cases colorectal carcinomas. Their clinical data, including gender, age, stage, recurrence, lymph node metastasis, and follow-ups were collected. Immunohistochemistry for rabbit monoclonal antibody SP3 and 4B5 were performed, Fluorescent in situ hybridization was applied to detect the amplification of HER2/neu gene. The HER2/neu overexpression of (2+ and 3+) in our results were seen in 7.5% (8/106) for 4B5 and 3.8% (4/106) for SP3 respectively, the HER2/neu amplification was in 2.8% (3/106). All cases of overexpression for SP3 were included by those for 4B5. Both antibodies stained 3 cases of HER2/neu 3+, and FISH confirmed HER2/neu amplification did occurred in these cases. In our study, 4B5 was more sensitive to detect HER2/neu of colorectal carcinoma than SP3. 2.8% patients with colorectal patients might benefit from anti-HER2/neu therapy.

By targeting antigens specifically, monoclonal antibodies represent a new class of therapeutic agents for the clinical management of various diseases including cancers. Monoclonal antibody technology has been greatly developed by reducing murine content in antibodies to minimize side effects in clinical applications. However, several intrinsic disadvantages of antibodies with murine origin limit the clinical efficacy of monoclonal antibodies based targeted therapy. The development of rabbit monoclonal antibody technology provides an alternative source of monoclonal antibodies with higher specificity and less cost for the development of routine targeted therapy against cancers.