Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma as diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Makerere University.

Abstract

Background: Oesophageal carcinoma is the 6th leading cause of death in the world. It is the third commonest malignancy in men and fourth in women in Uganda. The most common histological subtype is squamous cell carcinoma. Most of these patients express epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).There are drugs targeted to this receptor which could be used together with other modalities to improve quality of life in patients who express this receptor. Objective: To determine Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) expression in Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Makerere University. Methodology: This was a cross sectional laboratory based descriptive study conducted in the Department of Pathology, Makerere College of Health Sciences. A sample of 127 archival blocks of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed between 1st of January, 2010 to 31st December, 2012 were retrieved from the tissue repository and used to assess Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) expression using monoclonal mouse Anti-human wild type EGFR (Dako- Denmark) antibody. Data analysis was performed by use of SPSS version 16.0 and chi square test was used to determine the associations. Results: Expression of the receptor was reported in 74/127 (58.2%) of the blocks. Moderately differentiated oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma was the most predominant tumour grade. EGFR expression was significantly higher in the age groups of 50 – 69 years old. The expression was not affected by gender and grade of tumour (P-values > 0.05).Conclusion and Recommendations: EGFR expression in Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in Uganda was similar to what had been reported in previous studies. This could be of significance in determining appropriate drug regimen. There is need to carry out a similar study using a larger sample of cases to determine genetic mechanisms of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in these tumours. This will pave way to the understanding of the exact mechanisms involved in tumour development in the African population.