Issing W J, Liebich C, Wustrow T P, Ullrich A
Abteilung für Hals-Nasen-Ohrenkranke, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, Germany.
Anticancer Res. 1996 Jan-Feb;16(1):283-8.
In order to find a prognostic marker for the course of disease in head and neck cancer we hypothesized that patients with rapid disease progress would produce increased levels of transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) and its cell surface receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Using molecular biological techniques, we examined the incidence of TGF-alpha and EGFR overexpression in 43 patients with tumors of the head and neck. The expression data was correlated with the course of disease in a 4 year follow-up. The tumors were classified into four groups according to the EGFR status: Group 1, no expression for EGFR (15 samples); group 2, expression level 10 for EGFR (18 samples); group 3, expression level 50 for EGFR (7 samples) and group 4, expression level 100 for EGFR (3 samples). Expression for the TGF-alpha protein was only detected in group 4. There was a significant correlation with EGFR/TGF-alpha overexpression in group 4 and survival compared when with group 3 (p < 0.01) and group 1 (p < 0.05). The mean survival for group 1 to 4 was 27, 23, 34 and 10 months, respectively. The analysis of all patients revealed that the patients who expressed EGFR as well as TGF-alpha had the poorest prognosis. Increased production of TGF-alpha and EGFR in tumors of the head and neck may serve both as a marker for tumor progression and as a target for therapy (e.g. inhibition of the autocrine loop, blockage of TGF-alpha binding).
为了找到头颈部癌疾病进程的预后标志物，我们推测疾病进展迅速的患者会产生更高水平的转化生长因子α（TGF-α）及其细胞表面受体表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）。我们运用分子生物学技术检测了43名头颈部肿瘤患者中TGF-α和EGFR过表达的发生率。在4年的随访中，将表达数据与疾病进程进行关联分析。根据EGFR状态将肿瘤分为四组：第1组，EGFR无表达（15个样本）；第2组，EGFR表达水平为10（18个样本）；第3组，EGFR表达水平为50（7个样本）；第4组，EGFR表达水平为100（3个样本）。仅在第4组中检测到TGF-α蛋白表达。与第3组（p < 0.01）和第1组（p < 0.05）相比，第4组中EGFR/TGF-α过表达与生存率存在显著相关性。第1组至第4组的平均生存期分别为27、23、34和10个月。对所有患者的分析显示，同时表达EGFR和TGF-α的患者预后最差。头颈部肿瘤中TGF-α和EGFR产量增加可能既是肿瘤进展的标志物，也是治疗靶点（如抑制自分泌环、阻断TGF-α结合）。
