Aspects of ErbB Receptors

ErbB-4 Only a few clinical studies of ErbB-4 are available. Consistent 

Studies show that overall about 30% of invasive ductal carcinomas manifest amplification of ErbB-2 (Lipponen et al., 1993 Slamon et al., 1987). No difference was seen in ErbB-2 expression between different ethnic groups in the United States (Elledge et al., 1994 Weiss et al., 1995). While DCIS of the comedo type more frequently shows higher expression than does invasive disease, tumors greater than 1 cm in size tend to show ErbB-2 overexpression more frequently than do smaller tumors (Schimmelpenning et al., 1992), and higher grade tumors more frequently overexpress than do lower 

One of the problems in clinical oncology is the determination of nodal metastases in breast cancer patients if there were a marker that could predict this accurately, then more conservative surgery could be performed and more aggressive therapy reserved for those patients with more extensive disease. The identification of increased levels of ErbB-2 mRNA in fine-needle biopsy specimens was predictive of lymph node involvement preoperatively (Anan et al., 1998). Several studies have shown positive correlation between 

Despite ErbB-2 being a normal self-antigen and not yet shown to be mutated in human disease, significant antibody responses have been seen in the 

The more aggressive phenotype of ErbB-2-overexpressing cells, both in clinical and laboratory settings, implied that the level of ErbB-2 is a predictive factor. Indeed, the reports reviewed next suggest some correlation with response to adjuvant hormonal and chemotherapy. 

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