Premium
Phosphorylated EGFR at tyrosine 1173 correlates with poor prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinomas
Author(s) -
Monteiro LS,
Ricardo S,
Delgado ML,
Garcez F,
do Amaral B,
Lopes C
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/odi.12087
Subject(s) - medicine , immunohistochemistry , tissue microarray , epidermal growth factor receptor , proportional hazards model , oncology , epidermal growth factor , squamous cell cancer , cancer research , cell , stage (stratigraphy) , receptor , pathology , cancer , biology , paleontology , genetics
Objectives To evaluate the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and phosphorylated EGFR ( pEGFR ), in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). We examined their utility as prognostic markers by relating to clinicopathological characteristics and the clinical outcome. Materials and Methods We analysed 74 primary OSCC and examined immunohistochemical expression of EGFR and pEGFR (phosphorylated at tyrosine 1173) using tissue microarray technology. Their role in survival was assessed by Kaplan‐Meier method and Cox regression models. Results Epidermal growth factor receptor expression was observed in all cases, and pEGFR expression was observed in 41.1% of the cases. We found a significant correlation between EGFR and pEGFR expression ( P = 0.003). In the multivariable analysis for cause‐specific survival, we found an independent prognostic value for pEGFR expression (HR 7.94, 95% CI 2.03–31.06, P = 0.003) and for clinical stage (HR 2.88, 95% CI 1.10–7.53, P = 0.031). For recurrence‐free survival, clinical stage (HR 6.59, 95% CI 1.36–31.90, P = 0.019) and tumour grade (HR 3.35, 95% CI 1.07–10.44, P = 0.037) presented independent prognostic value. Conclusion Epidermal growth factor receptor is highly expressed in OSCC and is phosphorylated in more than one‐third of the cases. The independent value of pEGFR expression in cause‐specific survival of OSCC suggests that this marker may serve as reliable biological marker to identify high‐risk subgroups and to guide therapy.