Epidermal growth factor receptor and HER2-neu mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer Is correlated with survival.
The prognostic role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and HER2-neu remains controversial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We studied the association between the mRNA expression of EGFR, HER2-neu, and survival in primary tumor and matching nonmalignant tissues from 83 patients with NSCLC. Analysis was performed using a quantitative real-time PCR system (Taqman). EGFR and HER2-neu mRNA expression was detectable in all (100%) specimens analyzed. Twenty-nine (34.9%) patients had high HER2-neu expression, and 28 (33.7%) patients had high EGFR expression. A high HER2-neu and EGFR coexpression was detectable in 14 (16.9%) patients. High HER2-neu expression was associated with inferior survival (P = 0.004), whereas high EGFR expression showed a trend toward inferior survival (P = 0.176). The impact of HER2-neu and EGFR coexpression on patients' survival was additive (P = 0.003). Multivariate analysis determined high HER2-neu expression (P = 0.041), and high EGFR/HER2-neu coexpression (P = 0.030) as significant and independent unfavorable prognostic factors. These findings indicate that HER2-neu and EGFR play a crucial role in the biological behavior of NSCLCs. Testing of molecular marker coexpression (EGFR and HER2-neu) improves the estimation of prognosis and appears to define low- and high-risk groups for treatment failure in curatively resected NSCLC.
Brabender
J
J
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA. drbrabender@cs.com
Danenberg
K D
KD
Metzger
R
R
Schneider
P M
PM
Park
J
J
Salonga
D
D
Hölscher
A H
AH
Danenberg
P V
PV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D018734:Genes, erbB-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D066246:ErbB Receptors