Abstract
In a series of 111 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), we used immunohistochemistry to examine the expression levels of four epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family members (EGFR, HER-2/neu, HER-3, and HER-4). Expression of the EGFR members was not significantly associated with tumor size. However, their expressions (except for HER-4) were significantly associated with the presence of lymph node metastasis, and all of them were significantly associated with distant metastasis. We further examined the association between the expression levels of the EGFR members and the survival rates in 47 oral SCC patients whose detailed clinical follow-ups were available. The expression of all EGFR members was significantly associated with shortened patient survival, and the association was strongest for HER-2/neu. Furthermore, the combination of HER-2, HER-3, and EGFR but not HER-4 significantly improved the predicting power. The expression level of HER-2/neu was significantly correlated with that of EGFR or HER-3. Similar coexpression patterns were also observed in three oral SCC cell lines studied, but not in four other head and neck SCC cell lines. Taken together, these results indicated that expression levels of EGFR, HER-2/neu, and HER-3 may help predict the outcome of patients with oral SCC.
Footnotes
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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↵1 This work was supported in part by United States Department of Health and Human Services Cancer Center Core Support Grant CA-16672 from the National Cancer Institute, NIH Grants CA58880 and CA60856, M. D. Anderson Faculty Achievement Award (to M-C. H.), and Grant DAMD 17-94-J4315 (to M-C. H.) from the Department of Defense.
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↵2 The first two authors contributed equally to this work.
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↵3 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Box 108, Section of Molecular Cell Biology, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 792-3668; Fax: (713) 794-0209; E-mail: mchung{at}tumorb01.mdacc.tmc.edu
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↵4 The abbreviations used are: SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; TNM, tumor, lymph node, and distant metastasis.
- Accepted September 23, 1999.
- Received May 13, 1999.
- Revision received September 22, 1999.
Volume 5, Issue 12
