Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) transcript level in breast cancer tissues

ABSTRACT

Background: Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane cell-surface glycoprotein with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity. EGFR has been shown to stimulate cell proliferation and to enhance the migration and invasiveness of breast cancer. EGFR is expressed in epidermal cell lines and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many different types of cancer. Objective: To evaluate the level of EGFR transcript in breast cancer and normal tissues; comparison the EGFR transcript level at different development stages and cancer cell types. Subject and methods: Total RNA from 62 tissue samples including 47 breast cancer and 15 normal tissues were extracted; cDNA synthesis by reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction, EGFR transcript level were determined using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Result and conclusions: EGFR transcript level was highly expressed in breast cancer tissues compared to the normal tissues. Especially, its expression was related to the different status and cancer cell types of breast cancer. There was a difference of EGFR transcript level between histological pathology\u2019s forms of breast cancer in the same stage.