Carcinoma of an unknown primary: are EGF receptor, Her-2/neu, and c-Kit tyrosine kinases potential targets for therapy?
Br J Cancer
; 97(7): 857-61, 2007 Oct 08.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17876336
ABSTRACT
Carcinomas of an unknown primary site (CUP) are heterogeneous tumours with a median survival of only 8 months. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are promising new drugs. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of EGF-receptor, Her-2/neu, and c-Kit tyrosine kinases in CUP. Paraffin-embedded specimens were obtained from 54 patients with a CUP who were included in the GEFCAPI 01 randomised phase II trial. Immunohistochemistry was performed using the Dako autostainer with antibodies directed against HER-2/neu protein, EGFR protein, and c-Kit protein (CD117). EGFR expression was found in 36 out of 54 samples (66%). In contrast, Her-2/neu overexpression and c-Kit positivity were only detected in 4 and 10% of patients, respectively. No significant association was found between the expression of the tyrosine kinase receptors and prognosis. EGFR expression was significantly associated with response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy the response rates were 50 and 22% in patients with EGFR-positive tumours and EGFR-negative tumours, respectively (P<0.05). This study shows that EGFR is frequently expressed in CUP. This finding may prompt clinical trials investigating EGFR inhibitors in this setting. In contrast, c-Kit expression and Her-2/neu overexpression occur infrequently in CUP. EGFR expression was correlated to tumour chemosensitivity.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Neoplasms, Unknown Primary
/
Biomarkers, Tumor
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Receptor, ErbB-2
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit
/
ErbB Receptors
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Br J Cancer
Year:
2007
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Francia