Gene amplification of EGFR and its clinical significance in various cervical (lesions) lesions using cytology and FISH.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gene amplification and clinical significance of the epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in cervical lesions. This study was designed to detect the EGFR gene amplification by liquid-based cytology and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques in 78 cases of cervical various lesions [28 cases of normal control cervix, 26 low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) and 25 high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL)]. Positive gene amplification rates of the EGFR gene in normal cervix, LSIL and HSIL were 7.14%, 23.08% and 62.50%, respectively. There was a significantly difference between HSIL and normal control cervix or LSIL (P<0.01). At the same time, the gene amplification rate of EGFR was also significantly different between the cases of LSIL with positive follow-up and negative follow-up (P<0.01). In addition, the correlation between EGFR gene amplification and HPV viral load in the same sample was evaluated in some cases. Then the increase of EGFR gene amplification in HSILs and LSILs with positive follow-up suggests that EGFR gene amplification is associated with the severity of cytologic findings. Therefore, detection of EGFR gene may provide an objective genetic test for the assessment of cells in Pap smears and serves as a screening marker for HSILs or LSILs, which may help determine the progressive potential of individual lesions.