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. 1990 Jun;61(6):924–926. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1990.207

Malignant pleural mesothelioma and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R). Relationship of EGF-R with histology and survival using fixed paraffin embedded tissue and the F4, monoclonal antibody.

H Dazzi 1, P S Hasleton 1, N Thatcher 1, S Wilkes 1, R Swindell 1, A K Chatterjee 1
PMCID: PMC1971675  PMID: 2372497

Abstract

The expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) in 34 formalin fixed paraffin embedded specimens of malignant mesothelioma was examined using the F4 antibody. Eight samples of reactive pleura showed homogenous cytoplasmic staining with the antibody. EGF-R positive cells (greater than or equal to 5%) were found in 68% of the mesotheliomas examined. EGF-R positivity was more commonly seen in the epithelial histological subtype than in the sarcomatous or mixed subtypes. Patients with less than 5% of mesothelioma cells staining positive for EGF-R had a significantly shorter survival (median 299 days) compared with patients whose tumours had a greater number of cells positive for EGF-R (median 446 days) (P = 0.04). However, when the histological subgroup was also taken into consideration (epithelial type had a significantly longer survival than the sarcomatous or mixed) the survival difference in relation to EGF-R positivity was no longer significant (P = 0.08). EGF-R could not be used to distinguish between malignant and benign mesothelial tissue and was not an independent prognostic factor for survival.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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