Background: Bladder cancer (BC) has a particular importance in Egyptian patients due to aggressive behavior and absence of prognostic markers.
Objective: To evaluate the expression of gene and protein expression of HER2 and epidermal growth factor (EGFR) in Egyptian patients with BC and ultimately to investigate their clinical implication and prognostic significance.
Material and methods: The study was carried out on 46 patients with urothelial bladder BC. Tissue were obtained from transurethral resection (N = 22) and radical cystectomy (N = 24) specimens. The original hematoxylin and eosin slides were re-evaluated and the formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues which had sufficient tumor tissue (>75%) and minimal or absent tumor necrosis were selected for immunohistochemistry (IHC) and RNA extraction. Furthermore, five control biopsies were obtained from patients with cystitis. Follow-up data were retrieved from the medical records which included the treatment regimen, disease recurrence and/or progression, and survival.
Results: EGFR and HER2 protein were overexpressed in 35% and 46% of patients respectively. EGFR was correlated with the tumor size, grade and pathological stage, with a similar trend for HER2. The recurrence rate was higher in patients with expression of any of the markers. Gene expression was significantly higher (10.6-folds) for EGFR and (21-folds) for HER2 in patients with BC in comparison to control patients. Survival analysis showed lower median disease-free survival in association with HER2 protein overexpression.
Conclusions: Our data highlighted the prognostic significance of EGFR and HER in BC and proposed their possible use as predictive markers and potential therapeutic targets.
Keywords: Bladder cancer; EGFR; HER1; HER2; bilharziasis; survival.