Increased serum level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is associated with poor progression-free survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple malignancies, and its expression also strongly affects the outcomes of cancer patients. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum levels of EGFR in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. A total of 50 patients with a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of EOC were enrolled into this study. Serum EGFR levels were determined by the solid-phase sandwich ELISA method. Age and sex matched 20 healthy controls were included in the analysis. Median age of patients was 56.5 years old, range 22-83 years. Majority of the patients had advanced disease (FIGO stage III-IV) (90 %). No significant difference in baseline serum EGFR levels between EOC patients and controls (65.9 vs. 65.4 ng/mL, p = 0.86). Patients with normal CA 125 had higher serum EGFR level compared with the higher CA 125 level (p = 0.02). No other clinical variables including histology, stage of disease, and response to chemotherapy were found to be correlated with serum EGFR assay (p > 0.05). The patients with increased serum EGFR levels had poor progression-free survival than those with lower levels (median survival 4 vs. 12 months, respectively, p = 0.01). However, serum EGFR level was found no prognostic role for overall survival (p = 0.15). Increased serum level of EGFR is associated with poor progression-free survival in EOC patients.