Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Absence of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in cervical cancer
  1. H. Arias-Pulido*,
  2. N. Joste,
  3. A. Chavez*,
  4. C. Y. Muller,
  5. D. Dai,
  6. H. O. Smith and
  7. C. F. Verschraegen*
  1. *Division of Hematology/Oncology,
  2. Department of Pathology,
  3. Division of Gynecology Oncology, The University of New Mexico Cancer Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  1. Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Hugo Arias-Pulido, PhD, Cancer Research & Treatment Center, The University of New Mexico Cancer Center, 900 Camino de Salud NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA. Email: harias{at}salud.unm.edu.

Abstract

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in the majority of cervical cancers (CCs). Somatic mutations of EGFR have been associated with clinical response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in lung cancer patients. This study was designed to establish the frequency of EGFR point mutations in patients diagnosed with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) and CC. Nine cell lines derived from CC were screened for EGFR mutations in exons 18 through 21. Eighty-nine patient samples derived from invasive CC (n= 80) and HSIL (n= 9) were analyzed for the presence of EGFR mutations in exons 19 and 21. We found no mutations affecting the EGFR kinase domain in exons 18 through 21 in all cell lines tested, and no EGFR mutations were detected in exons 19 and 21 in all 89 human neoplastic samples analyzed. These data indicate that mutations in the EGFR kinase domain are very rare in CC and HSIL. Our results suggest, therefore, that treatment of CC patients with TKIs may not have the same efficacy as seen in patients with lung cancer, and that targeting the EGFR with other inhibitors may be more appropriate.

  • cervical cancer
  • EGFR
  • mutation analysis
  • tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.