Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor in laryngeal dysplasia and carcinoma

The immunoreactivity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was studied in laryngeal biopsy specimens from 24 patients. The study comprised 5 cases of normal laryngeal mucosa, 5 cases of dysplasia, 7 cases of well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, and 7 cases of poorly to moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. EGFR was in general not expressed in normal and dysplastic epithelia, whilst all carcinomas showed a rather strong positive immunoreactivity. There was no significant difference in staining patterns between the well and poorly to moderately differentiated carcinomas. The results suggest that EGFR constitutes a component of neoplastic, but probably not preneoplastic, laryngeal disease. The study failed to reveal any difference in staining pattern between different types of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.