Y. Hirono et al., AMPLIFICATION OF EPIDERMAL GROWTH-FACTOR RECEPTOR GENE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SURVIVAL IN HUMAN GASTRIC-CANCER, Oncology, 52(3), 1995, pp. 182-188
The correlation between the clinical features in 103 patients with pri
mary gastric carcinoma and amplification of epidermal growth factor re
ceptor (EGFR) gene was analyzed retrospectively. EGFR gene amplificati
on was examined by slot-blot hybridization using DNA extracted from fo
rmalin-fixed, paraffinembedded tissues. EGFR expression was also exami
ned immunohistochemically using the same tissues with a monoclonal ant
ibody that is monospecific for EGFR. In 5 to 103 cases (4.9%), a 2- to
11-fold amplification of EGFR gene was detected. Four of these 5 case
s were poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. All of them had overexpr
essions of EGFR. The cumulative survival rate of patients with EGFR ge
ne amplification was significantly lower than that of the patients wit
hout amplification (p<0.05) and all of them died within 3 years. Excep
t for tumor size (p<0.03), there were no significant clinicopathologic
differences between the two groups. On the other hand, 41 of 103 case
s (39.8%) exhibited expression of EGFR. However, there was no signific
ant correlation between EGFR expression and clinicopathologic factors
or prognosis. These results indicate that EGFR gene amplification may
occur in advanced stages during the progression and be an important in
dicator of poor short-term prognosis in gastric carcinoma.