The Relationship of EGFR and VEGF mRNA Expression in Ovarian Carcinoma

OBJECTIVE Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is dysregulated in many human malignancies and is a potential target for therapeutic intervention, but there is a major disagreement among researchers about both the frequency and possible clinical importance of EGFR overexpression in ovarian cancer. We investigated the expression and significance of the EGFR mRNA and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA in ovarian carcinoma. METHODS Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed to determine the expression of EGFR mRNA and VEGF mRNA in 79 ovarian specimen (including 15 normal, 13 benign and 51 malignant, from 79 patients). The relationship between EGFR and VEGF expression was analyzed. RESULTS The positive rates of the expression of EGFR mRNA and VEGF mRNA were significantly higher in the patients with ovarian carcinoma than those in both the patients with benign ovarian tumors and in the normal controls. There was correlation between EGFR mRNA expression and clinical stages. The positive rate of the expression of EGFR mRNA in Stage III-IV was higher than that in Stage I-II of ovarian carcinoma ( P < 0.05). The expression of VEGF mRNA was correlated with the clinical stages and lymph node metastasis. The expression levels of VEGF mRNA in Stage III-IV and in the group with lymph node metastasis were signifi cantly higher than those in Stage I-II and in the group without lymph node metastasis, respectively ( P < 0.05). The expression of EGFR mRNA was positively correlated with the expression of VEGF mRNA (r = 0.438, P < 0.05).CONCLUSION The expressions of EGFR mRNA and VEGF mRNA are positively correlated to the occurrence of ovarian carcinoma and its metastasis. The detection of EGFR and VEGF may be helpful for the targeted chemotherapy