Correlations between expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), phosphorylated EGFR, cyclooxygenase-2 and clinicopathological variables and treatment outcomes in nasopharyngeal carcinomas.

BACKGROUND

To evaluate immunoexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), phosphorylated EGFR (pEGFRTyr1068), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and analyze their prognostic utility in nasopharyngeal carcinomas (NPC).

METHODS

We used a retrospective review of charts and tissue specimens. The immunoexpression levels of EGFR, pEGFRTyr1068, and COX-2 were semiquantitatively assessed by the H-score method for 170 NPC samples from patients treated with radiotherapy (RT) alone.

RESULTS

The ranges of immunohistochemical H-scores were 0-510 (median 225) for EGFR, 0-395 (median 25) for pEGFRTyr1068, and 0-460 (median 170) for COX-2. None of these 3 markers were significantly associated with one another, clinicopathological factors, or the rates of locoregional control (LRC), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), or overall survival (OS). In multivariate analysis, the independent adverse prognosticators were T-stage for LRC, N-stage for DMFS, and T-stage, N-stage, and age > 60 years for OS.

CONCLUSIONS

Immunoexpression levels of EGFR, pEGFRTyr1068, and COX-2 were not related to clinicopathological variables and not predictive of outcomes of NPC patients treated with RT alone.