Presence of epidermal growth factor receptor as an indicator of poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer.

Abstract

SUMMARY Epidermal growth factor receptors are present in some breast cancers in man, and there is an inverse relation to oestrogen receptor state. We assessed the presence of epidermal growth factor receptors as a single prognostic indicator in a series of breast tumours by comparing this with the Bloom and Richardson scores for these tumours. One hundred and eight ductal tumours were examined for epidermal growth factor receptors by radioligand binding. There was a significant (p < 0O01) correlation between the presence of the growth factor receptor and poor prognosis as assessed by the Bloom and Richardson score, suggesting that epidermal growth factor receptor state could be a useful prognostic marker. Epidermal growth factor receptor state was not significantly correlated with the lymph node state but showed a tendency to be associated with large tumours.

Immunohistochemical and other features of breast carcinomas presenting clinically compared with those detected by cancer screening

“…Again, the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor in human breast cancer is associated with poor prognosis (Sainsbury et al, 1985;Sainsbury et al, 1987) although not with tumour size or lymph node status (Sainsbury et al, 1987;Sainsbury et al, 1988;Toi et al, 1990); some workers find an association with histological grade (Toi et al, 1990) whereas others do not (Lewis et al, 1990). The proportion of cases overall scored positive for EGFR was 30% (40/132) and was similar to that assessed as 'positive' by Sainsbury et al.…”

C-erbB-3 in human breast carcinoma: expression and relation to prognosis and established prognostic indicators

“…Within the carcinomas staining was found to be heterogeneous and predominantly cytoplasmic with membrane staining seen in less than 1% of cases ( Figure 1). The majority of tumours in both series exhibited moderate immunoreactivity but a substantial proportion in both the primary and advanced series exhibited strong positivity (Figure 2 (Sainsbury et al, 1985(Sainsbury et al, , 1987Nicholson et al, 1990 (Slamon et al, 1987). Further studies have supported this association (Wright et al, 1989;Gullick et al, 1991;Lovekin et al, 1991).…”

“…Expression of both EGFR and the c-erbB-2 oncoproteins have been associated with established prognostic indicators and a poorer prognosis in human breast carcinoma (Sainsbury et al, 1985(Sainsbury et al, , 1987Nicholson et al, 1990;Grimaux et al, 1989;Walker et al, 1989;Wright et al, 1989;Gullick et al, 1991;Slamon et al, 1987). The sequence homology of the c-erbB-3 oncoprotein to the EGFR and cerbB-2 oncoprotein has lead to interest in c-erbB-3 expression in breast cancer.…”

SH2 and SH3‐containing adaptor proteins: redundant or independent mediators of intracellular signal transduction

“…The fact that dominant negative Grb2 molecules interfere with EGF receptor signalling to Ras and Bcr-Abl transformation (Pendergast et al 1993) suggest that specific peptides or stable peptidomimetics that can transverse the membrane may act specifically on intracellular aspects of receptor function and may have therapeutic value (Smithgall et al 1995). In several cancers, including adenocarcinoma of the breast, lung and ovary, EGF receptor overexpression is associated with poor clinical prognosis (Sainsbury et al 1985). Moreover, increased EGF receptor in many epithelial malignacies is associated with increased production of agonists (TGF-or EGF) by the same tumour cells, establishing conditions conducive for receptor activation by autocrine stimulatory loops (Vijver et al 1991).…”