Fig. 5: Illustrated diagram showing the distribution of oestrogen receptor (ER) signalling genes among HER2 + IHC classes and their impact on response to anti-HER2 therapy among these classes. | British Journal of Cancer

Fig. 5: Illustrated diagram showing the distribution of oestrogen receptor (ER) signalling genes among HER2 + IHC classes and their impact on response to anti-HER2 therapy among these classes.

From: Differential response of HER2-positive breast cancer to anti-HER2 therapy based on HER2 protein expression level

Fig. 5

a Heatmap demonstrating the unsupervised clustering and distribution of ER signalling genes among HER2 IHC 3+ and IHC 2 + /Amplified with significant expression in IHC 2 + /Amplified class (P = 0.008). b Principal component analysis (PCA) showing that most of ER-positive tumours are within the HER2 2 + /Amplified category. c A visual diagram delineates the significance of ER positivity in both HER2 + IHC categories. HER2 IHC 3+ predominantly hinges on the HER2 oncogenic signalling pathway, rendering the efficacy of anti-HER2 therapy contingent upon obstructing this pathway (depicted on the left side). Conversely, in HER2 IHC 2 + /Amplified tumours (depicted on the right side), the ER signalling pathway remains active. Here, cancer cells elude the suppressive effects of anti-HER2 interventions, sustaining their proliferation.

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