Just a few comments concerning the above posted article on her2 expression and cell proliferatioin…
HER-2 Expression is NOT defined by CEP her2 ratio as I originally thought. Once I read the entire abstract, I realized her2 expression is defined as below. Also, the proliferaton index is specifically defined in terms of TLI which is also defined below for you.
Immunoreactivity was expressed as the percentage ratio between the area of immunopositive tumor cells and the entire area of invasive neoplastic tissue. In particular, the percentage values were subdivided into 10% classes from 10% to 90%, with a further subdivision in 5% classes for values less than 10 or more than 90. Note in the table low expressioin was 18-28 and high was 23-37. (I know it doesn’t make sense, there is a cross over here??????????????)
TLI
thymidine-labeling index (TLI),
9 which has been shown to be a consistent and powerful prognostic factor over time.
Also, in the first article in my orginal post, 2/3s of the study group had a primary tumor of 2cm or less. Note many of us are less than 1cm, being early stage.
http://www.jco.org/cgi/content/full/21/14/2708 link to the entire abstract