Investigating the levels of soluble extracellular domain of HER2 protein in the sera of meningioma patients

Abstract

AIM: Bearing in mind the association of breast cancer and meningioma, the present study aimed to investigate the levels of the soluble extracellular domain of HER2 protein in meningioma cases and control group. Besides, in the present research, its associations with pathological features and prognostic indicators of meningioma were examined. MATERIAL and METHODS: A total of 68 meningioma patients along with 20 healthy age-sex matched individuals, as controls, were selected. Levels of HER2 in the sera were measured by a quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: The observations showed that Serum HER2 levels in meningioma patients were significantly lower than normal controls. However, outlier quantities were mostly observed in the cases. Furthermore, in meningiomas with higher histological grade (grade II, III), statistically significant elevated serum levels of HER2 were observed compared to patients with low-grade meningiomas (grade I). CONCLUSION: Serum HER2 levels were a poor biomarker for determination of pathological and prognostic characteristics of meningiomas and coupling serum HER2 levels with immunohistochemistry examination of HER2 in meningioma tissue samples would be helpful in future studies.