Background: Elevated serum levels of the oncoprotein p105 (c-erbB-2, HER2/neu) have been found in patients with ovarian cancer, but its role in this disease has not been clearly established.
Materials and methods: The authors studied the relationship between p105 serum levels, various tumor parameters, and survival in 57 patients with newly diagnosed, untreated ovarian cancer. Serum specimens were obtained at the time of initial surgery, and p105 levels were determined using the human neu quantitative ELISA assay.
Results: Elevated p105 serum levels were correlated with a poor prognosis since patients with low p105 levels had a better survival than patients with high p105 levels (P = 0.02). This result was confirmed in stage III patients (n = 29; P = 0.08). p105 serum levels were not related to tumor stage, grade, histologic findings or serum CA 125 levels.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that ovarian cancer patients with elevated p105 serum levels may have a poor clinical outcome.