Healthy Male Individuals Possess Higher Plasma HER-2 Level Than Females
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Considering HER2 as one of the well-known biomarkers in the cancer field, and published articles regarding serum levels of HER2, in this paper we tried to highlight the issue that most studies don't stratify the HER-2 concentration of individuals in terms of gender. In this brief survey, healthy individuals with no prior non-communicable diseases were categorized as males (n=34) and females (n=43), and all samples were evaluated for plasma HER-2 levels at once. Surprisingly, the plasma level of HER-2 of healthy male individuals (mean= 2.28 ± 0.21 ng/mL) was significantly (P<0.0001) higher than the plasma level of HER-2 of healthy females (mean: 0.06 ± 0.09 ng/mL), with no overlap. Therefore, we suggest that more studies are required to re-check the cutoff values for HER-2 plasma levels based on gender since the clinical implications of a unique HER-2 cutoff for both genders may be seriously concerning.
Makoui R, Fekri S, Ansari N, Makoui M Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2024; 25(9):2979-2990.
PMID: 39342574 PMC: 11700328. DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2024.25.9.2979.