title: Absence of epidermal growth factor receptor exon 18-21 mutation in hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in many epithelial tumors and plays an important role in the tumorigenesis of these tumors. Inhibitors of EGFR reduce the proliferation rate of cancers and are promising therapeutic agents of cancers. Recently, two studies have identified somatic mutations in the exons 18-21 of EGFR that were strongly correlated with robust clinical response to gefitinib treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. To investigate whether EGFR mutation is involved in the tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we performed direct sequencing of exons 18-21 on 89 HCCs. No mutations causing amino acid changes or deletions were identified. The results indicate mutation of the kinase domain of EGFR does not play a significant role in the tumorigenesis of HCC and gefitinib is unlikely to be used as single-drug therapy for HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Min-Sheng General Hospital, 168, Ching-Kuo Road, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Min-Cheng
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Huang-Chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: Yung-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Jeng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D000077156:Gefitinib; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000494:pharmacology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D011799:Quinazolines; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D000077156:Gefitinib