3 research outputs found
Supplementary Material for: Expression of the ERBB Family of Ligands and Receptors in Gastric Cancer
<p><b><i>Objective:</i></b> Gastric cancer (GC) is the second most
common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in
Korea. Alterations in the ERBB (homology to the erythroblastoma viral
gene product, v-erbB) receptor family and ERBB-related signaling
pathways are frequently observed in GC. However, the roles of the ERBB
receptors and their ligands in GC are not well established. <b><i>Methods:</i></b>
We evaluated the expression levels of various ERBB receptor ligands
(i.e., heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor
[HBEGF], transforming growth factor-α [TGFA], amphiregulin [AREG],
epiregulin [EREG], epidermal growth factor [EGF], and betacellulin
[BTC]) and 3 ERBB family receptors (i.e., epidermal growth factor
receptor [EGFR], human EGFR2 [HER2], and ERBB3) in 313 cases of GC using
immunohistochemistry, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and mRNA in
situ hybridization. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A high expression of EGFR,
HER2, and ERBB3 was observed in 30, 32, and 27 cases, respectively. A
high expression of HBEGF, TGFA, AREG, EREG, EGF, and BTC was observed in
91, 97, 151, 74, 26, and 37 cases, respectively. A high expression of
TGFA was associated with better survival, while a high expression of BTC
was associated with worse survival. These results were confirmed using
Cox proportional hazards analysis. HBEGF, TGFA, AREG,
tumor-node-metastasis classification, Lauren's classification, and ERBB3
were significant survival parameters in multivariate analysis. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b>
Among the ERBB family receptors and ligands examined, 3 ligands (i.e.,
TGFA, HBEGF, and AREG) and ERBB3 had a prognostic impact.</p