The Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) examined the association between ERBB2 amplification
and clinical covariates, tumor response, disease status post-chemotherapy, progression-free
survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).
Women with suboptimally-resected, advanced stage EOC who participated in GOG-111,
a multi-center randomized phase III trial of cyclophosphamide+cisplatin versus paclitaxel+cisplatin,
and provided a tumor block through the companion protocol GOG-9404 were eligible.
ERBB2 amplification was examined using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with
probes for ERBB2 and the centromere of chromosome 17 (CEP17).
ERBB2 amplification, defined as >2 copies of ERBB2/CEP17, was a rare event in EOC
with 7% (9/133) of women exhibiting between 2.2 and 33.7 copies of ERBB2/CEP17, and
was not associated with patient age, race, GOG performance status, stage, cell type,
grade, measurable disease status, volume of ascites, tumor response or disease status
post-chemotherapy. Women with >2 verses < or =2 copies of ERBB2/CEP17 did not have
a reduced risk of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR]=0.56; 95% confidence interval
[CI]=0.27-1.16; p=0.120) or death (HR=0.57; 95% CI=0.26-1.23; p=0.152), and ERBB2
amplification was not an independent prognostic factor for PFS or OS. ERBB2 amplification,
defined as >4 copies of ERBB2/nuclei, was observed in 9% (12/133) of women with levels
ranging from 4.2 to 49.2 copies of ERBB2/nuclei, and was associated with older age
and volume of ascites, but not with the other clinical covariates or outcome.
ERBB2 amplification is a rare event and has no predictive or prognostic value in suboptimally-resected,
advanced stage EOC treated with platinum-based combination chemotherapy.