epidermal growth factor receptor gene in prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy

background: the aim of this study was to evaluate over expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (egfr) gene in localized prostate cancers and determine its relation with clinical and pathological factors affecting the progression of the disease. methods: in the tissue samples of the patients with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy, egfr expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry technique. those with scores 2 and 3 were considered to be positive for the expression. the relation between gene expression and grade was evaluated by chi-square test. results: of 100 tissue samples evaluated, 80 and 20 had gleason score (gs) < 7 and ≥ 7, respectively. also, 68 and 32 had psa level ≤ 10 and >10, respectively. a total of 59 samples were positive for egfr expression, of whom, 46 had gs < 7 and 13 had gs > 7 (p-value = 0.39). forty patients had psa < 10 and 19 had psa > 10 (p-value = 0.5). conclusion: fifty-nine percent of the patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy were egfr positive. no significant relation was found between egfr and grading (gs) or psa. keywords: epidermal growth factor receptor; gene expression; prostate cancer references 1. auclerc g, antoine ec, cajfinger f, brunet-pommeyrol a, agazia c, et al. management of advanced prostate cancer. oncologist 2000; 5:36-44. 2. petrylak dp. chemotherapy for advanced hormone refractory prostate cancer. urology 1999; 54:30–35. 3. ware jl. growth factors and their receptors as determinants in the proliferation and metastasis of human prostate cancer. cancer metastasis rev. 1993; 12:287-301. 4. jalali nadoushan mr , taheri t , jouian n , zaeri f . overexpression of her-2/neu oncogene and transitional cell carcinoma of bladder. urol j. 2007; 4(3):151-4. 5. mofid b , jalali nodushan m r, rakhsha a , zeinali l , mirzaei h . relation between her-2 gene expression and gleason score in patients with prostate cancer. urol j. 2007; 4(2):101-4. 6. jalali nadoushan mr, heidary f, zaeri f, ahmadi h. correlation between grade in transitional cell carcinoma and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor. iranian j publ health 2007; 36(2):47-9. 7. jalali nadoushan mr, neisani e, karbassi m. correlation of ki67-positivity in tumoral cells percentage with effective factors on prognosis in primary breast cancer. res j biol sci. 2007; 2(3):326-8. 8. steiner ms. role of peptide growth factors in the prostate: a review. urology. 1993; 42:99-110. 9. russell pj, bennett s, stricker p. growth factor involvement in progression of prostate cancer. clin chem. 1998; 44:705-23. 10. barton j, blackledge g, wakeling a. growth factors and their receptors: new targets for prostate cancer therapy. urology. 2001; 58:114-22. 11. scher hi, sarkis a, reuter v, et al. changing pattern of expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor and transforming growth factor alpha in the progression of prostatic neoplasms. clin cancer res. 1995; 1:545-50. 12. di lorenzo g, tortora g, d'armiento fp, de rosa g, staibano s, autorino r, et al. expression of epidermal growth factor receptor correlates with disease relapse and progression to androgen-independence in human prostate cancer. clin cancer res. 2002; 8:3438-44. 13. hernes e, fosså sd, berner a, otnes b, nesland jm. expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor family in prostate carcinoma before and during androgen-independence. br j cancer. 2004; 90:449-54. 14. bartlett jm, brawley d, grigor k, munro af, dunne b, edwards j. type i receptor tyrosine kinases are associated with hormone escape in prostate cancer. j pathol. 2005; 205:522-9. 15. shuch b, mikhail m, satagopan j, lee p, yee h, chang c, et al. racial disparity of epidermal growth factor receptor expression in prostate cancer. j clin oncol. 2004; 22:4725-9. 16. harper me, glynne-jones e, goddard l, mathews p, nicholson ri.  expression of androgen receptor and growth factors in premalignant lesions of the prostate. j pathol. 1998; 186:169-77. 17. shah rb, ghosh d, elder jt. epidermal growth factor receptor (erbb1) expression in prostate cancer progression: correlation with androgen independence. prostate. 2006; 66:1437-44. 18. ciardiello f, tortora g. a novel approach in the treatment of cancer: targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor. clin cancer res. 2001; 7:2958-70. 19. sirotnak fm, she y, lee f, scher hi. studies with cwr22 xenograft models in nude mice suggest that zd1839 (‘iressa’) may have a role in the treatment of both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent human prostate cancer [abstract]. clin cancer res. 2001; 7 :542.