Gasparini G, Bevilacqua P, Pozza F, Meli S, Boracchi P, Marubini E, Sainsbury J R
St. Bortolo Regional Hospital, USSL 8 Vicenza-Veneto, Italy.
Br J Cancer. 1992 Nov;66(5):970-6. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1992.394.
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane glycoprotein whose expression is important in the regulation of breast cancer cell growth. The relationship between EGFR status (determined by an immunocytochemical assay) and various prognostic factors was investigated in 164 primary breast cancers. Overall 56% of tumours were EGFR-positive and the expression of EGFR was unrelated to axillary node status, tumour size and histological grade; and it was poorly associated with the tumour proliferative activity measured by Ki-67 immuno-cytochemistry. The relapse-free survival (RFS) probability at 3-years was significantly worse for patients with EGFR positive tumours (P = 0.003) and for those whose Ki-67 score was > 7.5% (P = 0.0027), as well as in patients with axillary node involvement (P = 0.01) and with poorly differentiated tumours (P = 0.04). Immunocytochemical determination of EGFR and cell kinetics gave superimposable prognostic information for predicting RFS with odds ratios of 3.51, when evaluated singly. In our series of patients EGFR, Ki-67 and node status retain their prognostic value concerning RFS in multivariate analysis. The 3-year probability of overall survival (OS) was significantly better in node-negative patients (P = 0.04) and was similar in EGFR-positive and negative patients. In conclusion, EGFR status appears to be a significant and independent indicator of recurrence in human breast cancer and the concomitant measurement of the tumour proliferative activity seems to improve the selection of patients with different risks of recurrence.
表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）是一种跨膜糖蛋白，其表达在乳腺癌细胞生长调节中具有重要作用。我们对164例原发性乳腺癌患者进行研究，探讨了EGFR状态（通过免疫细胞化学检测确定）与各种预后因素之间的关系。总体而言，56%的肿瘤为EGFR阳性，EGFR的表达与腋窝淋巴结状态、肿瘤大小和组织学分级无关；与通过Ki-67免疫细胞化学检测的肿瘤增殖活性相关性较差。EGFR阳性肿瘤患者、Ki-67评分>7.5%的患者、腋窝淋巴结受累患者以及低分化肿瘤患者的3年无复发生存率（RFS）概率显著更差（P分别为0.003、0.0027、0.01和0.04）。单独评估时，EGFR的免疫细胞化学测定和细胞动力学在预测RFS方面提供了叠加的预后信息，优势比为3.51。在我们的患者系列中，在多变量分析中，EGFR、Ki-67和淋巴结状态在RFS方面保留了它们的预后价值。淋巴结阴性患者的3年总生存率（OS）概率显著更好（P = 0.04），EGFR阳性和阴性患者的情况相似。总之，EGFR状态似乎是人类乳腺癌复发的一个重要且独立的指标，同时测量肿瘤增殖活性似乎有助于改善对具有不同复发风险患者的选择。
