title: Coexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor and TGF-alpha and survival in upper aerodigestive tract cancer.
abstract: In order to find a prognostic marker for the course of disease in head and neck cancer we hypothesized that patients with rapid disease progress would produce increased levels of transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) and its cell surface receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Using molecular biological techniques, we examined the incidence of TGF-alpha and EGFR overexpression in 43 patients with tumors of the head and neck. The expression data was correlated with the course of disease in a 4 year follow-up. The tumors were classified into four groups according to the EGFR status: Group 1, no expression for EGFR (15 samples); group 2, expression level 10 for EGFR (18 samples); group 3, expression level 50 for EGFR (7 samples) and group 4, expression level 100 for EGFR (3 samples). Expression for the TGF-alpha protein was only detected in group 4. There was a significant correlation with EGFR/TGF-alpha overexpression in group 4 and survival compared when with group 3 (p < 0.01) and group 1 (p < 0.05). The mean survival for group 1 to 4 was 27, 23, 34 and 10 months, respectively. The analysis of all patients revealed that the patients who expressed EGFR as well as TGF-alpha had the poorest prognosis. Increased production of TGF-alpha and EGFR in tumors of the head and neck may serve both as a marker for tumor progression and as a target for therapy (e.g. inhibition of the autocrine loop, blockage of TGF-alpha binding).
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Hals-Nasen-Ohrenkranke, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Germany.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Issing
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liebich
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Wustrow
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ullrich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; D066246:ErbB Receptors