Expression of epidermal growth factor receptor in cervical tissue and serum in patients with cervical neoplasia

Objective. We hypothesized that there may be a relationship between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in cervical tissue and serum in patients with cervical neoplasia. Materials and Methods. The expression of EGFR was measured in cervical tissues from 23 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients and 16 cervical carcinoma patients using immunohistochemical staining and the level of serum EGFR extracellular domain was measured in serum from 17 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients and 14 cervical carcinoma patients using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. The expression of EGFR was significantly increased as normal cervical tissue progressed to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia then to cervical carcinoma (p = .009). The mean level of serum EGFR according to the intensity of immunohistochemical staining in negative, weakly positive, positive, and strongly positive staining was 19.36 ± 3.12 fmol/mL, 20.99 ± 3.59 fmol/mL, 29.08 ± 16.86 fmol/mL, and 24.34 ± 10.35 fmol/mL, respectively (p = .450). Conclusions. We believe that the level of serum EGFR may have a similar role as tumor markers such as the EGFR expression in cervical neoplastic tissue.