Clinicopothologic analysis of epidermal growth factor receptor status in non-small cell lung cancer: Protein expression, gene amplification and survival analysis

초록

Background : Abnormal over-expression or gene amplification of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is important in the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We investigated the frequency of EGFR protein expression and gene amplification, and the correlation between EGFR status and survival in NSCLC. Methods : We examined 360 cases of microarrayed NSCLC tissues for the EGFR protein expression and EGFR gene amplification using immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization. Results : EGFR protein expression and EGFR gene amplification occurred in 110 cases (30.6%) and 24 cases (6.7%), respectively. EGFR protein expression and gene amplification were more frequent in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma. Differences in EGFR protein expression did not dramatically affect survival curves (p=0.740), but differences in gene amplification did (p < 0.05): EGFR gene amplification was associated with a lower 5-year survival rate. Conclusion: EGFR protein expression and gene amplification showed moderate correlation with each other. EGFR gene amplification predicted a poor prognosis, whereas EGFR protein expression did not.

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