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Increased epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in malignant mammary phyllodes tumors

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Abstract

Mammary phyllodes tumors are uncommon stromal-epithelial neoplasms, and are divided into benign, borderline malignant and frankly malignant groups on the basis of their histological features. Accumulating evidence shows that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of many malignancies. This study investigated 453 phyllodes tumors (296 benign, 98 borderline, 59 malignant) for EGFR expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for gene amplification. The staining was correlated to tumor margin status, degree of malignancy, stromal cellularity, mitotic activity, nuclear pleomorphism and stromal overgrowth. Cases with strong positive IHC staining were selected for FISH. The overall positive rate for EGFR was 16.2% (48/296), 30.6% (30/98) and 56% (33/59) for benign, borderline malignant and frankly malignant phyllodes tumors, respectively. FISH demonstrated egfr gene amplification in 8% of immunohistochemically positive cases. The results of this study provide strong evidence that EGFR overexpression is involved in the pathogenesis of phyllodes tumors, although gene amplification may not be the major underlying mechanism for overexpression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, 30-32 Ngan Shing Street, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Gary M. K. Tse, Philip C. W. Lui, Joaquim S. L. Vong, Kin-Mang Lau, Alex M. C. Yu, David C. H. Ng & Agnes K. Y. Tse

  2. Department of Pathology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Thomas C. Putti

  3. Discipline of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Rooshdiya Karim, Richard A. Scolyer & C-Soon Lee

  4. Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Puay-Hoon Tan

Authors
  1. Gary M. K. Tse
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  2. Philip C. W. Lui
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  3. Joaquim S. L. Vong
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  4. Kin-Mang Lau
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  5. Thomas C. Putti
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  9. Alex M. C. Yu
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  11. Agnes K. Y. Tse
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  12. Puay-Hoon Tan
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Correspondence to Gary M. K. Tse.

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Tse, G.M.K., Lui, P.C.W., Vong, J.S.L. et al. Increased epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in malignant mammary phyllodes tumors. Breast Cancer Res Treat 114, 441–448 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-008-0030-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-008-0030-5

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