[Correlation of epidermal growth factor receptor activation to metastasis-free survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients].
OBJECTIVE
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in many tumors, and is correlated to poor prognosis. However, the prognostic value of EGFR expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is controversial. This study was to investigate the expression of EGFR and its phosphorylated form (pEGFR) in NPC, and explore their correlations to the prognosis.


METHODS
NPC samples were obtained from 110 NPC patients treated at Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University from Jan. 1999 to Dec. 1999. The expression of EGFR and pEGFR in 110 specimens of NPC and 20 specimens of normal nasopharyngeal tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The correlations of EGFR and pEGFR expression to clinical characteristics and prognosis of NPC were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analyses.


RESULTS
The positive rates of EGFR and pEGFR were significantly higher in NPC than in normal tissues (100% vs. 10.0%, 60.0% vs. 15.0%, both P<0.001). High expression rate of EGFR was significantly higher in stage T3-4 tumors than in stage T1-2 tumors (63.6% vs. 43.2%, P=0.034), but it had no relationship with other clinical parameters. The 5-year metastasis-free survival rate was significantly lower in the patients with high pEGFR expression than in those with low pEGFR expression (72.2% vs. 91.0%, P=0.012). However, multivariate analysis revealed that pEGFR expression was not an independent prognostic factor for metastasis-free survival of NPC patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Phosphorylation of EGFR is related with metastasis-free survival of NPC patients, suggesting an important role of activation of EGFR in the dissemination of NPC.
Yuan
Tai-Ze
TZ
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People's Republic of China.
Li
Xiao-Xia
XX
Cao
Yun
Y
Qian
Chao-Nan
CN
Zeng
Mu-Sheng
MS
Guo
Xiang
X
D000367:Age Factors; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010766:Phosphorylation; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015996:Survival Rate
D066246:ErbB Receptors