Correlation between expression of EGFR and the prognosis of patients with cervical carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene has been detected in a large number of human tumors, in most of which the association between overexpression of EGFR and poor prognosis of the disease has been reported. However, the prognostic role of EGFR oncoprotein in cervical carcinoma remains controversial. The current study aimed to determine the prognostic value of EGFR in patients with cervical cancer.


METHODS
We measured EGFR oncoprotein with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results were correlated to clinical data.


RESULTS
The presence of measurable levels of EGFR in the tumor was found in all of the explored tumors. The levels varied widely from 31 to 2874 fmol/mg protein with a median at 582 fmol/mg protein, and Q1, Q2, and Q3 quartiles were 156, 562, and 1047, respectively. Overexpression of EGFR was associated with an impaired prognosis with respect to disease-free interval (P = 0.03) and overall survival (P = 0.04). Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor EGFR provided prognostic information with respect to disease-free interval (P = 0.002) and overall survival (P = 0.005) independently of the two established prognosticators, FIGO stage and lesion size.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results are consistent with the concept that EGFR confers prognostic information in addition to that provided by the established clinicopathologic parameters of FIGO stage and lesion size.
Kim
Young Tae
YT
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, BK21 Project for Medical Sciences, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ytkchoi@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr
Park
Sang Won
SW
Kim
Jae Wook
JW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
D066246:ErbB Receptors