Epidermal growth factor receptor expression and measurement in solid tumors.

The efficacies of targeted therapies for cancer treatment are dependent on the expression of the targeted molecule in the tumors of the treated patient population. Immunohistochemistry is an attractive assay format for determining protein expression in biopsies of solid tumors, and is widely used in pathology laboratories. An optimized immunohistochemistry assay for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been developed for the detection of EGFR in colorectal, head and neck, and other tumors that express EGFR, and the assay is being used in colorectal cancer trials of IMC-C225 to select patients for treatment. The specificity of the assay and the detection technology used will be described, along with other assay methodologies and applications for EGFR testing. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.