FREQUENT EXPRESSION OF A MUTANT EPIDERMAL GROWTH-FACTOR RECEPTOR IN MULTIPLE HUMAN TUMORS

The epidermal growth factor receptor has received much interest as a t arget for various antineoplastic agents, but a complication is that ma ny normal tissues also express this receptor, We have previously ident ified in human glial tumors an 801-bp in-frame deletion within the epi dermal growth factor receptor gene that created a novel epitope at the junction, By using Western blot assays with a mutant-specific antibod y as a rapid and sensitive means for detecting this alteration in prim ary human tumors, it was found that 57% (26 of 46) of high-grade and 8 6% (6 of 7) of low-grade glial tumors, but not normal brain, express t his protein, This altered receptor was also present in 66% (4 of 6) of pediatric gliomas and 86% (6 of 7) of medulloblastomas, 78% (21 of 27 ) of breast carcinomas, and 73% (24 of 32) of ovarian carcinomas. The fact that this receptor is frequently found in tumors but not in norma l tissue makes it an attractive candidate for various antitumor strate gies.