Abstract
We have previously shown that a subset of sinonasal intestinal-type adenocarcinomas (ITAC) shows activation of the epidermal growth factor-receptor (EGFR) pathway. In this study we examine the status of the EGFR, KRAS and BRAF genes in a series of sinonasal intestinal (ITAC) and non-intestinal type adenocarcinomas (non-ITAC). Eighteen ITACs and 12 non-ITACs were studied immunohistochemically for EGFR expression. Point mutations were analyzed for EGFR exons 19 and 21, KRAS exon 2 and BRAF exon 15 by direct sequencing. Non-ITACs showed significantly higher expression of EGFR (p = 0.015). Mutation analysis revealed one ITAC with EGFR and one ITAC with KRAS mutation, while two non-ITACs presented mutation of BRAF. We conclude that a subset of sinonasal adenocarcinomas shows overexpression of EGFR, while activating mutations of the signaling cascade downstream of EGFR are rare, suggesting that these tumors could be good candidates for anti-EGFR therapies.
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This study was supported in part by a grant from “Istituto Toscano Tumori”.
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Franchi, A., Innocenti, D.R.D., Palomba, A. et al. Low Prevalence of K-RAS, EGF-R and BRAF Mutations in Sinonasal Adenocarcinomas. Implications for Anti-EGFR Treatments. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 20, 571–579 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-013-9730-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-013-9730-1