EGFR scoring in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and its association with clinicopathological variables
Abstract
Background: Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the seventh most common cancer in the world with poor overall survival rate which is unchanged during the last two decades.
Aim: Aim of our study is to measure the level of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) expression in HNSCC by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and to correlate EGFR with clinicopathological variables.
Settings and Design: Cross sectional study from 1st October 2012 to 31st of March 2014 was performed.
Materials and Methods: After taking detailed history and a thorough examination, biopsy/ specimen of HNSCC region were evaluated to confirm the diagnosis of HNSCC. Paraffin blocks of such tumors were processed for EGFR staining. Staining intensity was evaluated by using scale from 1 to 4.
Statistical Analysis: Chi-square test was used as appropriate for data analysis.
Results: In the present study 38/50 (78%) patients were diagnosed as well differentiated, 12/50(24%) were diagnosed as moderately differentiated. For EGFR staining, 24/50 (48%) scored as +2, 16/50(32%) as +3, 8/50(16%) as +1 and 2/50(4%) scored as 0. 23/38(60.5%) well differentiated SCC cases presented as +2, 5/38(13.2%) as +3, 8/38(21.1%) as +1 and 2/38(5.3%) as 0. 11/12(91.6%) moderately differentiated SCC cases were scored as +3, 1/12(8.3%) as +2. p value 0.001, which is highly significant. However, correlation of EGFR scoring with patients age, sex, addiction history, site of the tumor was insignificant.
Conclusion: EGFR was highly expressed in HNSCC. The result of our study showed that, high EGFR scoring was associated with high grade of the tumor. There was no significant relationship between EGFR scoring and clinicopathological variables.
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References
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