Expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the phosphorylated EGFR in invasive breast carcinomas
2008

EGFR and pEGFR Expression in Invasive Breast Cancer

Sample size: 154 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Magkou Christina, Nakopoulou Lydia, Zoubouli Christina, Karali Kanelina, Theohari Irene, Bakarakos Panagiotis, Giannopoulou Ioanna

Primary Institution: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Hypothesis

The study aims to investigate the expressions of EGFR and pEGFR and their correlation with overall and disease-free survival, clinicopathological parameters, and biological markers of invasion and angiogenesis.

Conclusion

The study provides evidence that pEGFR expression is related to angiogenesis and invasiveness, and that the EGFR/pEGFR phenotype is associated with poor patient survival in invasive breast cancer.

Supporting Evidence

  • EGFR expression was positively correlated with nuclear grade.
  • pEGFR was positively related to the Akt pathway and appeared to participate in invasion and metastasis.
  • The EGFR/pEGFR phenotype was associated with poor overall survival.

Takeaway

This study found that certain proteins related to breast cancer can help predict how well patients will do, with some proteins linked to worse outcomes.

Methodology

A three-step immunohistochemical method was applied to paraffin-embedded sections from 154 patients with invasive breast carcinoma to detect expressions of various proteins.

Potential Biases

Potential biases may arise from the selection of patients and the retrospective nature of the study.

Limitations

The study only included women with invasive breast carcinomas and did not account for potential confounding factors in survival analysis.

Participant Demographics

Patients aged 25 to 86 years, mean age 57.12 years, all women with invasive breast carcinoma.

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.001, 0.005, 0.008, 0.049, 0.025, 0.016, 0.019, 0.013

Confidence Interval

1.573 to 27.281, 1.093 to 2.113

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/bcr2103

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