title: Epidermal growth factor receptor is overexpressed in neuroblastoma tissues and cells.
abstract: Neuroblastoma is the most common abdominal malignant tumor in childhood. Immunotoxin (IT) that targets the tumor cell surface receptor is a new supplementary therapeutic treatment approach. The purpose of this study is to detect the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in neuroblastoma cell lines and tissues, and to explore if IT therapy can be used to treat refractory neuroblastoma. The EGFR expression in human neuroblastoma tissue samples was detected by immunohistochemistry staining. The positive rate of EGFR expression was 81.0% in neuroblastoma tissue and 50.0% in gangliocytoma, respectively, but without statistical significance between them (P > 0.05). The positive rate of EGFR expression in favorable type and unfavorable type was 62.5% and 92.3%, respectively, but they were not statistically different (P > 0.05). Results from pre-chemotherapy and post-chemotherapy samples showed that there was no significant statistical difference (P > 0.05) between them in the EGFR expression. Furthermore, the EGFR expression levels in five neuroblastoma cell lines were measured using cell-based ELISA assay and western blot analysis. The results showed that the expression of EGFR was higher in KP-N-NS and BE(2)-C than those in other cell lines. Our results revealed that there are consistent and widespread expressions of EGFR in neuroblastoma tissues as well as in neuroblastoma cell lines, suggesting that it is possible to develop future treatment strategies of neuroblastoma by targeting at the EGFR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Biomodel Organism, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Ruling
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China likai2727@163.com.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zong
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Biomodel Organism, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Danrong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Biomodel Organism, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Qingcheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China.
authors.forename: Zuopeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China.
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China.
authors.forename: Yangyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors
keywords: epidermal growth factor receptor; immunotoxin; neuroblastoma