The EGFR protein level had no association with the survival of the patient's cohort studied, and a higher level of HIF-1α protein associated only with a trend to significance (multivariate Cox's regression analysis) to a poor prognosis in STS patients (RR = 1.9, <i>p</i> = 0.09).
We sought to determine if the expression of CSC markers (aldehyde dehydrogenase [ALDH], CD44, and epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR]) predicted outcomes in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients.
to quantify CTCs and identify CTM as well as the EGF Receptor (EGFR) protein expression in these cells and correlate with clinical outcome in metastatic STS.
The expression of EGFR/pEGFR, and their associated downstream signal transducers, was associated with STS progression, suggesting that EGFR downstream signalling pathways may jointly support STS cell survival.
This was confirmed in a fibrosarcoma xenografted mouse model, where the tumours from the combination group (418mm3) were significantly smaller than those from untreated (1032mm3) or single drug (912 and 798mm3) groups.Our findings may have clinical implications for optimising EGFR-targeted therapy in STS.
Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor was slightly more frequent in the STS patients, but this is not statistically different. mdm2 overexpression was significantly more frequent in the STSs, and this group had a significantly higher median proliferation index.