Correlated expression of erbB-3 with hormone receptor expression and favorable clinical outcome in invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast

The prognostic impact of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family members in breast carcinoma was evaluated through the analysis of 378 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma to determine the relationship between EGFR family members and clinical outcome. It was found that 13.8% of the cases were positive for erbB-3. Expression of erbB-3 was inversely correlated with EGFR and erbB-4 expression (P = .012 and P = .046). Expression of erbB-3 was correlated with positive estrogen and progesterone receptor status and inversely correlated with histologic grade. Expression of erbB-3 was correlated with longer disease-free survival (DFS; P = .028). Within the erbB-3-expressing group, there was a tendency for the coexpressing group to have shorter DFS compared with the single-expressing group. This study revealed that erbB-3 expression was associated with better prognosis. In an era of personalized targeted therapy, erbB-3 expression and its coexpressive pattern with other EGFR family members could be an important determinant for therapeutic plans for breast cancer treatment.