Background
Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that is overexpressed in 25 to 30 % of human breast cancers and is preferentially localized in lipid rafts. Stomatin is a membrane protein that is absent from the erythrocyte plasma membrane in patients with congenital stomatocytosis and is the major component of the lipid raft.
Conclusions
These results may suggest that stomatin is a new prognostic indicator for HER2-positive breast cancer.
Results
In a total of 68 clinical cases of HER2-positive breast cancer, the absence of stomatin expression was associated with a decreased 5-year survival (65 % vs. 93 %, p = 0.005) by survival analysis. For stage I-III HER2-positive breast cancer, the absence of stomatin expression was associated with a decreased 5-year disease-free survival (57 % vs. 81 %, p = 0.016) and was an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analysis. Negative stomatin expression predicts distant metastases in a hazard ratio of 4.0 (95 % confidence interval from 1.3 to 12.5). Conclusions: These results may suggest that stomatin is a new prognostic indicator for HER2-positive breast cancer.