Predictive Role of EGFR, IGF-۱R, VEGFR۲ and HIF-۱α Expression on Survival of Patients with Triple-negative Breast Cancer

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) carries a poor prognosisand therapeutic options are limited to date. The aim of this study was to investigateto what extent the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), vascular endothelialgrowth factor receptor ۲ (VEGFR۲), hypoxia inducible factor-۱ alpha (HIF-۱α)and insulin-like growth factor-۱ receptor (IGF-۱R) are expressed in TNBC and todetermine if these expressions have a predictive role.Methods: Of ۹۲۳ breast cancer patients who were treated and followed inAcademic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) from ۲۰۰۶-۲۰۱۰, ۱۰۴ of them had TNBC. Immunohistochemistry analyses were performedon tissue microarray blocks with antibodies for EGFR, VEGFR۲, HIF-۱α andIGF-۱R.Results: We analyzed tumor samples from ۱۰۴ patients with classic primaryinvasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Fifteen patients (۱۴%) were in stage I, ۴۶.۶%instage II, ۳۰.۱% in stage III and ۵.۸% in a metastatic stage (stage IV). The medianoverall survival (OS)was ۴۸months. EGFRwas expressed in ۱۵ (۱۴%),VEGFR۲in ۶۳ (۶۱%), IGF-۱R in ۸۱ (۷۸%) and HIF-۱α in ۵۷ (۵۵%) samples. EGFRexpression was significantly associated with poor outcome in terms of OS (P =۰.۰۲۱,OR = ۳.۹).Conclusions: Among the four investigated tumor markers, only EGFR wassignificantly associatedwith survival of patientswithTNBC.

Keywords:

EGFR , VEGFR۲ , HIF-۱α , IGF۱-R , triple negative breast cancer , overall survival