Clinical significance of EGFR and EGFRvIII expression in human esophageal carcinoma

Objectives: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its mutated variant EGFRvIII are involved in the occurrence and development of malignancies. Our objective was to find a correlation between EGFR and EGFRvIII expression in esophageal carcinoma and clinical outcomes. Methodology: Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis were applied to detect expression of EGFR and EGFR vIII in specimens of esophageal carcinoma patients. Patient-matched normal tissues served as the control. Results: EGFR and EGFRvIII were detected in cell membrane and cytoplasm. A significantly higher expression of EGFR and EGFRvIII was observed in tumors as compared to normal tissues. Moreover, the expression of EGFR and EGFRvIII in esophageal carcinoma was significantly associated with the tumor location and degree of tumor invasion, tumor-node- metastasis (TNM) staging, pathological grade, and lymph node metastasis. However, there were no significant associations with age, invasiveness, tumor size, or growth pattern. Conclusion: The over expression of EGFR or EGFRvIII is related with the malignant degree, and EGFR or EGFRvIII may be a novel promising indicator for early diagnosis of esophageal carcinoma.