J Lung Cancer.  2009 Jun;8(1):13-20. 10.6058/jlc.2009.8.1.13.

The Prognostic and Predictive Value of EGFR and HER-2 in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Who Are Treated with Cisplatin and Paclitaxel

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. sjkang@catholic.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE: Although both platinum-based drugs and third-generation drugs are commonly used as first-line therapy for patients with advanced, unresectable non-small cell lung cancer, their effectiveness and clinical outcomes vary. We investigated whether epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and HER-2 were correlated with the chemoresponse and survival after treatment with a cisplatin plus paclitaxel regimen.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-nine tumors were analyzed by chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) for EGFR and HER-2 gene amplification.
RESULTS
Twenty-eight patients (57%) achieved a partial response (PR), 13 (27%) showed stable disease (SD) and 8 (16%) had progressive disease (PD). EGFR and HER-2 amplification was identified in 43% and 57% of the tumors, respectively. EGFR amplification revealed no association with either a chemoresponse or survival, whereas HER-2 was amplified more frequently in the patients with PD (88% vs. 54%, respectively, p=0.06) and in the patients with shorter survival (12 months vs. 20 months respectively, p=0.027).
CONCLUSION
The evaluation of HER-2 gene amplification is a promising approach for identifying those patients who are most likely to benefit from combination chemotherapy with cisplatin and paclitaxel

Keyword

Non-small cell lung carcinoma; Epidermal growth factor receptor; HER-2; Chromogenic in situ hybridization

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
Cisplatin
Drug Therapy, Combination
Genes, erbB-2
Humans
In Situ Hybridization
Paclitaxel
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor
Cisplatin
Paclitaxel
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor

Figure

  • Fig. 1. EGFR (A) and HER-2 (B) gene amplification by chromogenic in situ hybridization. A typical gene amplification appears as a cluster of multiple individual gene copies (CISH, ×400). EGFR: epidermal growth factor receptor.


Reference

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