Surgical oncology and reconstruction
Phosphorylated Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Expression Is Associated With Clinicopathologic Parameters and Patient Survival in Mobile Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2016.08.022Get rights and content

Purpose

Phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor (pEGFR) activates several signaling pathways, resulting in tumor-promoting cellular activities, and has been implicated in malignant transformation and disease progression. The present study evaluated the clinical significance of pEGFR protein expression in mobile tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Materials and Methods

The present cohort study included 48 patients with mobile tongue SCC. We evaluated whether pEGFR immunohistochemical protein expression is associated with clinical variables and patient outcome.

Results

Of the 48 patients included in the present cohort study, 25 were men and 23 were women. The median patient age was 60 years (interquartile range 53 to 72). pEGFR protein expression was significantly increased in well-differentiated tumors compared with poorly differentiated tumors (P = .001). Elevated pEGFR protein expression was significantly more frequently observed in mobile tongue SCC cases with a well-defined tumor shape and an earlier disease stage (P = .010 and P = .019, respectively). Patients with mobile tongue SCC presenting with elevated pEGFR expression had longer overall and disease-free survival times compared with those with low pEGFR expression (P = .015 and P = .006, respectively; log-rank test). On multivariate analysis, pEGFR expression proved to be an independent prognostic factor of both overall and disease-free survival (P = .008 and P = .044, respectively; Cox regression analysis).

Conclusions

The results of the present study support evidence that the pEGFR signaling pathway might be implicated in the malignant transformation of mobile tongue SCC. Additional studies are recommended to validate whether pEGFR could be used as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in mobile tongue SCC.

Section snippets

Patients

The present study was a cohort study of 48 patients with mobile tongue SCC initially treated from 2000 to 2009 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Institute Curie, Paris, France. All included patients provided informed consent for use of their biologic samples and clinical data for research purposes. The institutional ethical committee approved the present study. All the patients had undergone initial partial glossectomy as primary treatment, and 39 patients had also

Results

Of the total 48 patients included in the present cohort study, 25 were men and 23 were women, with male/female ratio of 1.09. The patients' age at diagnosis ranged from 33 to 94 years (median age 60, interquartile range [IQR] 53 to 72). The clinicopathologic characteristics of the study sample are presented in Table 1. The patients were followed for 2 to 116 months (median 40, IQR 13 to 66). At the last follow-up visit, 15 patients (31.25%) had died of disease, 3 (6.25%) were alive with

Discussion

EGFR has been implicated in various human malignancies, including oral cancers, because it regulates many cellular functions, such as cell proliferation and survival, that are crucial for tumor development and progression.14 Of even more significance is that several drugs have recently been developed to target the tyrosine domain of EGFR as an approach in cancer treatment.15 Nevertheless, apart from the gradually increasing research in various human malignancies, no comprehensive data are

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  • Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None of the authors have any relevant financial relationship(s) with a commercial interest.

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