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Cetuximab Shows Activity in Colorectal Cancer Patients With Tumors for Which FISH Analysis Does Not Detect an Increase in EGFR Gene Copy Number

  • Gastrointestinal Oncology
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) gene gain assessed by FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) has been shown to be predictive of response to EGFR-targeted therapies in patients with non–small cell lung cancer. The aim or our study was to relate the EGFR gene copy number to therapeutic results in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) treated with a cetuximab-containing regimen.

Methods

Forty-seven patients with metastatic CRC treated with a cetuximab-containing regimen between August 2004 and September 2006 were included in our study. EGFR status was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and by FISH on fixed paraffin-embedded sections of tumor specimens.

Results

By IHC (n = 47), 39 patients (83%) had EGFR-positive tumors. EGFR gene copy gain was detected in 8 (19.5%) of 41 tumors. Neither EGFR expression assessed by IHC nor EGFR gene copy gain assessed by FISH were statistically significantly correlated with objective response rate, disease control rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Of the 33 patients whose tumors were FISH negative, 8 patients (24.2%) had a partial response, and 10 (30.3%) had stable disease.

Conclusions

EGFR FISH analysis does not seem to be a sufficiently robust test for selecting candidate CRC patients for cetuximab therapy.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Supported by the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (Contrat d’Incitation à la Recherche Clinique). We thank Laurence Bianchini, George Dettrakis, and Cecile Ortholan for editing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Antoine-Lacassagne, Canceropôle PACA, Nice, France

    Antoine Italiano MD, Philippe Follana MD & Eric François MD

  2. Laboratory of Solid Tumors Genetics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice and CNRS UMR 6543, Faculté de Médecine, Canceropôle PACA, Nice, France

    Antoine Italiano MD, Frédérique Keslair MS & Florence Pedeutour PharmD, PhD

  3. Medical Surgical Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology and Hepatology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Nice, France

    François-Xavier Caroli MD, Daniel Benchimol MD & Jean Gugenheim MD

  4. Department of Gastroenterology, Centre Hospitalier Général de Cannes, Cannes, France

    Jean-Luc Badetti MD

  5. Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace, Monaco, Monaco

    Georges Garnier MD

  6. Department of Pathology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Nice, France

    Juliette Haudebourg MD

  7. Department of Medical Oncology, Clinique Belvedere, Nice, France

    Gérard Lesbats MD

  8. Department of Medical Oncology, Clinique Saint-Jean, Lyon, France

    Gérard Lledo MD

  9. Department of Pathology, Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace, Monaco, Monaco

    Jean-Francois Roussel MD

Authors
  1. Antoine Italiano MD
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  2. Philippe Follana MD
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  3. François-Xavier Caroli MD
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  4. Jean-Luc Badetti MD
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  5. Daniel Benchimol MD
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  6. Georges Garnier MD
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  7. Jean Gugenheim MD
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  8. Juliette Haudebourg MD
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  9. Frédérique Keslair MS
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  10. Gérard Lesbats MD
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  11. Gérard Lledo MD
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  12. Jean-Francois Roussel MD
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  13. Florence Pedeutour PharmD, PhD
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  14. Eric François MD
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Correspondence to Antoine Italiano MD.

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Italiano, A., Follana, P., Caroli, FX. et al. Cetuximab Shows Activity in Colorectal Cancer Patients With Tumors for Which FISH Analysis Does Not Detect an Increase in EGFR Gene Copy Number. Ann Surg Oncol 15, 649–654 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-007-9667-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-007-9667-2

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