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Distinctive E‐cadherin and epidermal growth factor receptor expression in metastatic and nonmetastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Muller Susan,
Su Ling,
Tighiouart Mourad,
Saba Nabil,
Zhang Hongzheng,
Shin Dong M.,
Chen Zhuo Georgia
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.23557
Subject(s) - medicine , immunohistochemistry , epidermal growth factor receptor , pathology , lymph node , lymph , epidermoid carcinoma , carcinoma , oncology , cancer research , cancer
BACKGROUND. The authors investigated whether coexpression and localization of E‐cadherin (E‐cad) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) had predictive and/or prognostic correlations with lymph node metastasis and/or survival in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). METHODS. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) of archival tissue was performed to measure expression of EGFR and E‐cad in surgical specimens of SCCHN (n = 143) that included primary tumors (PTs) with positive lymph nodes (Tu +Met ) and their paired lymph node metastases (LnMet), PTs with negative lymph nodes (Tu −Met ), and benign tissue biopsies as normal controls. IHC staining was quantified as a weighted index and as the ratio of membrane to cytoplasmic staining. Correlative expression between EGFR and E‐cad also was examined in SCCHN cell lines by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence analyses. RESULTS. Three distinct expression patterns of EGFR and E‐cad were observed. Membrane localization of E‐cad was significantly lower in the Tu +Met group than in the Tu −Met group ( P = .01) and was associated inversely with lymph node status ( P = .009). Wilcoxon analysis of the combined markers demonstrated that expression and/or membrane localization of EGFR and E‐cad were correlated with disease‐free survival and overall survival in patients with SCCHN. The study of SCCHN cell lines demonstrated that cells with positive but low EGFR expression and with negative E‐cad expression were relatively resistant to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib. CONCLUSIONS. The current study suggested that examining not only the expression but also the localization of EGFR and E‐cad simultaneously may have clinical relevance in predicting lymph node metastasis, patient survival, and response to EGFR‐targeted therapy in patients with SCCHN. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.