Clinical significance of hyperexpression of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR and HER-2) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Immunohistochemical study of marker expression in primary tumors of patients with esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma was carried out in order to evaluate prognostic significance of EGFR and HER-2 levels in the tumors. Hyperexpression of EGFR and HER-2 in the tumors is an important marker for the analysis of prognosis and clinical course of the disease. A relationship between high levels of EGFR and HER-2 in the tumors of patients with esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma and intravascular tumor invasion (p=0.038) and poor outcome of the disease (p=0.019) was detected. The results indicate that evaluation of changes in the expression of EGFR and HER-2 in tumors is essential for individual prediction of the disease course and development of new approaches to the treatment of these tumors, including target therapy aimed at these tyrosine kinase receptors.