The Association of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Immunoexpression With Prognostic Parameters in Adenocarcinoma Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Treatment

TL;DR

This study examines how EGFR protein levels in pre- and post-treatment tissue samples relate to survival outcomes in colorectal cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy.

Contribution

The study suggests that post-treatment EGFR expression is a better predictor of aggressive cancer behavior than pre-treatment levels.

Findings

EGFR expression was detected in 88.2% of pre-op and 91.2% of post-op samples.

Post-treatment EGFR expression was linked to aggressive cancer behavior, including recurrence and metastasis.

Pre-op EGFR levels did not significantly correlate with survival outcomes.

Abstract

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression is considered to play an essential role in the pathogenesis of colorectal adenocarcinoma. This study assessed the expression and predictive/prognostic value of EGFR expression in pre-op biopsy and post-op resection specimens in patients receiving neoadjuvant radiotherapy/neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NRT/NCRT).

Thirty-four consecutive patients were included in this study. The association between the prognostic features and EGFR immunohistochemical expression was analyzed in pre- (n=34) and post-treatment (n=22) tissue samples in cases with available tissue blocks.

Of 34, 23 (67.6%) were men. The median age was 60.50 ± 10.69 (range, 31-84) years. EGFR expression was detected in 88.2% of biopsy specimens and in 91.2% of surgical specimens. There was only slight agreement between pre-op and post-op EGFR expression scores (kappa value 0.11). There was no significant correlation between pre-op and post-op EGFR expression scores (p>0.05). Although pre-op EGFR positivity and higher pre-op EGFR scores seemed to indicate a worse prognosis, this association between pre-op EGFR expression and overall survival (OS) or disease-specific survival (DSS) did not reach statistical significance (p>0.05). The only case with a post-op EGFR score of three who died of the disease experienced local recurrence and had distant metastasis.

In conclusion, EGFR positivity in pre-op biopsy samples seems to be associated with shorter survival, and increased EGFR expression in post-treatment resection specimens predicts aggressive behavior in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma who received NRT/NCRT. However, due to the molecular heterogeneity, EGFR expression status should be evaluated in resection specimens rather than in pre-op biopsy samples for optimal prognosis prediction.

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