Background and objectives: Primary brain tumors include any tumors arising in the brain whose prognosis is poor due to their histologic characteristics. The aim of this research was to evaluate the frequency of HER2 tumor marker in primary malignant brain tumors. Materials andMethods: This descriptive study was conducted on the samples admitted to the pathology laboratory with diagnosis of primary brain tumor during 2008–2015. Results: From among 107 patients (61.7% males and the rest females) with mean age of 40.4 years, the highest frequency of tumor location was in supratentorial region of the brain (including lobes and ventricles) (63.85% cases). High-grade astrocytoma had the highest prevalence at diagnosis (43.9%), followed by low-grade astrocytoma (37.4%). As for HER2 score, 42.1% of patients were HER2-positive (scores 2 & 3). On the other hand, 5.6% of patients were HER2-negative (-), 40.2% were positive (+), and 54.2% were positive (++). The patients with high-grade astrocytoma had older age (P < 0.001), higher HER2 positivity (P = 0.024) and percentage (P < 0.001) compared to the patients with low-grade astrocytoma. Conclusions: HER2 expression is dependent on the type of brain tumors. High expression of HER2 in high-grade astrocytoma may be useful for therapeutic purposes. The future research is needed to confirm these results with a large number of patients in different areas.
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Subject: Medicine and Pharmacology - Pathology and Pathobiology
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