An intracellular targeted antibody detects EGFR as an independent prognostic factor in ovarian carcinomas

BMC Cancer

Aurelia Noske⁴  Michael Schwabe¹  Wilko Weichert³  Silvia Darb-Esfahani¹  Ann-Christin Buckendahl¹  Jalid Sehouli²  Elena I Braicu²  Jan Budczies¹  Manfred Dietel¹  Carsten Denkert¹ 

[1] Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Charité Berlin, Germany

[2] Department of Gynecology, University Hospital Charité Berlin, Germany

[3] Institute of Pathology and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, Heidelberg, Germany

[4] Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland

关键词: prognosis;    ovarian cancer;    COX-2;    CRM1;    EGFR;   

Others  :  1080841
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2407-11-294

 received in 2010-12-12, accepted in 2011-07-14,  发布年份 2011

【 摘 要 】

Background

In ovarian cancer, the reported rate of EGFR expression varies between 4-70% depending on assessment method and data on patient outcome are conflicting. Methods: In this study we investigated EGFR expression and its prognostic value in a cohort of 121 invasive ovarian carcinomas, using a novel antibody against the intracellular domain of the receptor. We further evaluated an association between EGFR, the nuclear transporter CRM1 as well as COX-2. Furthermore, we evaluated EGFR expression in ten ovarian cancer cell lines and incubated cancer cells with Leptomycin B, a CRM1 specific inhibitor.

Results

We observed a membranous and cytoplasmic EGFR expression in 36.4% and 64% of ovarian carcinomas, respectively. Membranous EGFR was an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival in ovarian cancer patients (HR 2.7, CI 1.1-6.4, p = 0.02) which was also found in the serous subtype (HR 4.6, CI 1.6-13.4, p = 0.004). We further observed a significant association of EGFR with COX-2 and nuclear CRM1 expression (chi-square test for trends, p = 0.006 and p = 0.013, respectively). In addition, combined membranous EGFR/COX-2 expression was significantly related to unfavorable overall survival (HR 7.2, CI 2.3-22.1, p = 0.001).

In cell culture, we observed a suppression of EGFR protein levels after exposure to Leptomycin B in OVCAR-3 and SKOV-3 cells.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the EGFR/COX-2/CRM1 interaction might be involved in progression of ovarian cancer and patient prognosis. Hence, it is an interesting anti-cancer target for a combination therapy. Further studies will also be needed to investigate whether EGFR is also predictive for benefit from EGFR targeted therapies.

【 授权许可】

   
2011 Noske et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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