V. Ludovini, G. Bellezza, L. Pistola, F. Bianconi, L. Di Carlo, A. Sidoni, A. Semeraro, R. Del Sordo, F. R.Tofanetti, M.G. Mameli , G. Daddi, A. Cavaliere, M. Tonato, L. Crinò, “High coexpression of both insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (igfr-1) and epidermal growth factor receptor (egfr) is associated with shorter disease-free survival in resected non-small-cell lung cancer patients”, Annals of oncology 20 (5), 842-849, 2009.
Abstract
Background: Insulin-like growth factor receptor-1 (IGFR-1) represents a novel molecular target in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). IGFR-1 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation is essential to mediate tumor cell survival, proliferation and invasion. We explored the correlation between IGFR-1 and EGFR, their relationship with clinicopathological parameters and their impact on outcome in resected stage I–III NSCLC patients.
Patients and methods: Tumors from 125 surgical NSCLC patients were evaluated for IGFR-1 and EGFR expression by immunohistochemistry. Kaplan–Meier estimates of survival and time to recurrence were calculated for clinical variables and biologic markers using the Cox model for multivariate analysis.
Results: IGFR-1 protein overexpression was detected in 36.0% of NSCLC patients and was associated with larger tumor size (P = 0.04) but not with other clinical or biological characteristics. EGFR protein overexpression was observed in 55.2% of NSCLC, more frequently in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) than non-SCC (63.7% versus 36.3%, χ2 = 9.8, P = 0.001). IGFR-1 protein expression was associated with EGFR protein expression (P = 0.03). At the multivariate analysis, high coexpression of both IGFR-1 and EGFR was a significant prognostic factor of worse disease-free survival (DFS) (hazard ratio 2.51, P = 0.01).
Conclusion: A statistically significant association was observed between high coexpression of both IGFR-1 and EGFR and worse DFS in early NSCLC patients.