Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor in oral and esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma

Squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) represents the most common type of malignancies in the oral cavity (O) and esophagus (E). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a key role in numerous processes that affects tumor growth, progression, differentiation, invasion, metastasis, and inhibition of apoptosis. In this study, we wanted to investigate the EGFR expression in OSCC and ESCC cases. As well, another purpose was to observe if there exists any relation between its expression and clinicopathologic factors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which compares the EGFR protein expression between OSCC and ESCC.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 46 paraffin blocks (23 OSCC and 23 ESCC). The expression of EGFR was evaluated with immunohistochemical technique. Data analyses were done using SPSS software by Fisher's exact test. Significance was assigned at P < 0.05.

Out of 46 patients, 25 cases (54.3%) were male and 21 (45.7%) were female. Seventy-eight percent of OSCCs and 73.9% of ESCCs showed high expression of EGFR. No statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups (P = 0.73). There were no statistically significant correlations between EGFR expression and clinicopathologic factors (age, gender, grade, and stage) of OSCCs (P > 0.05). A statistically significant correlation was found between EGFR expression and stage in ESCCs group (P = 0.006).

No significant correlation was found between the expression of EGFR protein in OSCCs and ESCCs. High expression of EGFR was observed in ESCCs with Stages II, III.