Kim J W, Kim Y T, Kim D K, Song C H, Lee J W
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Gynecol Oncol. 1996 Feb;60(2):283-7. doi: 10.1006/gyno.1996.0039.
Increased expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene has been shown in a large number of tumors, generally indicating a more aggressive biological behavior of cancers than those with low or normal expression. The role of EGFR in the tumorigenesis of the uterine cervix has been poorly understood and controversial. In order to explore the relationship between EGFR status and cervical carcinoma, tissues were analyzed from 40 patients, each of whom had invasive cervical carcinoma prior to treatment, 20 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 10 control cases who underwent hysterectomy due to benign gynecological disease at Yonsei University College of Medicine. We measured EGFR with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay which was a sandwich type using a mouse monoclonal capture antibody and a rabbit antiserum as detector. Patients with invasive cervical cancer were found to have significantly higher median EGFR expression than either the patients with CIN (P = 0.002) or the control (P = 0.001), respectively. However, there was no significant difference in EGFR status between CIN and the control groups. Overexpression of EGFR was found in 29 of 40 (72.5%) invasive cervical cancers and in 5 of 20 (25%) CIN patients. In invasive cervical cancer, no significant difference in EGFR levels was noted when stratified according to age, menopausal status, histological cell type, or clinical stage. With regard to tumor size, lesions of 4 cm and larger had significantly higher receptor levels than those lesions under 4 cm (P = 0.003). Even though quantitative EGFR status did not correlate with other prognostic parameters except tumor size, our results were consistent with the concept that EGFR may play an important role in malignant transformation and tumorigenesis in cervical cancer.
大量肿瘤中已显示表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）基因表达增加，这通常表明癌症的生物学行为比低表达或正常表达的癌症更具侵袭性。EGFR在子宫颈肿瘤发生中的作用尚未得到充分了解且存在争议。为了探讨EGFR状态与宫颈癌之间的关系，我们分析了来自40例患者的组织，这些患者在治疗前均患有浸润性宫颈癌，另外还有20例宫颈上皮内瘤变（CIN）患者以及10例因良性妇科疾病在延世大学医学院接受子宫切除术的对照病例。我们使用酶联免疫吸附测定法测量EGFR，该方法为夹心型，使用小鼠单克隆捕获抗体和兔抗血清作为检测剂。结果发现，浸润性宫颈癌患者的EGFR表达中值显著高于CIN患者（P = 0.002）和对照组（P = 0.001）。然而，CIN组和对照组之间的EGFR状态没有显著差异。40例浸润性宫颈癌中有29例（72.5%）和20例CIN患者中有5例（25%）发现EGFR过表达。在浸润性宫颈癌中，根据年龄、绝经状态、组织学细胞类型或临床分期进行分层时，EGFR水平没有显著差异。关于肿瘤大小，4厘米及以上的病变其受体水平显著高于4厘米以下的病变（P = 0.003）。尽管除肿瘤大小外，EGFR定量状态与其他预后参数无关，但我们的结果与EGFR可能在宫颈癌的恶性转化和肿瘤发生中起重要作用这一概念一致。
