Table 3

*Clinicopathological characteristics and discrepant HER2* FISH status between primary tumour and distant metastasis**
Case no.	Age (years)	Clinicopathological characteristics				HER2 status
		Tumour size (cm)	Histology	Grade^a	Metastatic	Metastases	Primary tumour	Explanation^b

1	34	1.0	Ductal	3	Pleura	Amplified	Negative	True discrepancy
2	52	Not available	Ductal	3	Cerebrospinal fluid	Amplified	Negative	True discrepancy
3	65	2.5	Ductal	3	Pleura	Amplified	Negative	True amplification
4	52	1.6	Ductal	3	Pleura	Negative	Amplified	True amplification
5	47	1.8	Ductal	3	Ascites	Negative	Amplified	Borderline
6	47	Not available	Ductal	3	Pleura	Negative	Amplified	True amplification
7	82	5.2	Ductal	2	Pleura	Negative	Amplified	Borderline
8	62	2.5	Ductal	3	Lung	Negative	Amplified	True negative

HER2, gene encoding human EGF-like receptor 2; FISH, fluorescence in situ hybridization; true discrepancy, discrepancy remained unexplained; true amplification, amplification was found both in the metastasis and in the primary tumour after review; true negative, amplification was not confirmed after review; borderline, discrepancy was explained by interpretational difficulty due to a HER2/CEP17 ratio close to the threshold of 2 or less. ^aNuclear grade (1 to 3); ^bexplanations for the discrepancies of HER2 status.
Tapia et al. Breast Cancer Research 2007 9:R31 doi:10.1186/bcr1676