title: Prognostic value of epidermal growth factor receptor expression in operable non-small cell lung carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Increased expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), supporting the tumor growth by a possible endocrine mechanism, affects patient survival negatively. We designed a study to test EGFR expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in resected stage I-II NSCLC and to correlate its overexpression with survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  EGFR expression was evaluated in 98 consecutive NSCLC patients after complete resection (53 squamous cell carcinomas, 40 adenocarcinomas, 5 large cell carcinomas: stage I, 57 (58%) and stage II, 41 (42%). IHC was used to examine the expression of EGFR in resected lung tumor samples obtained from these patients, who had no pre- or post-operative chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed for factors influencing patient survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EGFR was expressed in 51 (52%) of 98 NSCLC samples. More squamous tumors (61%) were EGFR-positive than adenocarcinomas (38%) (p = 0.038). There was a statistically significant correlation between EGFR expression and stage (p = 0.04). No difference was found between EGFR positive and negative tumors in the 5-year overall survival (57% vs. 73%, p = 0.13).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The level of EGFR expression in tumors was not a successful predictor of survival in resected NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Diseases,Yedikule Teaching Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. drekremcs@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ekrem Cengiz
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Seyhan
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altın
authors.forename: Erdogan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cetinkaya
authors.forename: Sinem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sökücü
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abalı
authors.forename: Nur
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Buyukpinarbasili
authors.forename: Neslihan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fener