In this sample of patients, the HER-2/neu oncogene is not overexpressed or amplified in osteosarcoma; six of 22 samples (27%) showed overexpression of p53 by IHC analysis.
The presence of increased levels of ErbB2 in osteosarcoma was significantly associated with the increased probability of event-free (72.2% v. 45.6% at 5 years, P = 0.03) and overall survival (79.7% v. 58.2% at 5 years, P = 0.03).