EGFR and COX-2 protein expression in non-small cell lung cancer and the correlation with clinical features

Background: to evaluate the expression of egfr and cox-2 and their correlation with prognosis in nsclc. methods: the paraffin embedded tumor samples of 50 nsclc patients receiving radical resection were analyzed immunohistochemically for egfr and cox-2 expression and their prognostic values were explored. results: the positive rate of egfr protein in nsclc tumor cells was 46%,which was significantly higher than its expression in normal lung (p = 0.0234) and paracancerous tissues (p = 0.020). egfr expression was significantly higher in nodal positive than in nodal negative patients (p = 0.04). the mean survival time for egfr positive patients (31 months) was significantly lower than that for patients with egfr negative expression (48 months) (p = 0.008,). in patients receiving post-operation thoracic irradiation,the mean survival time for egfr positive patients was significantly lower than that for patients without egfr positive expression (25 vs. 48 months,p = 0.004). the positive rate of cox-2 protein expression in nsclc tumor cells was 90%,which was significantly higher than that in normal tissue(p = 0.00) and paracancerous tissue (p = 0.00). there was no correlation between cox-2 expression and patient survival,and no correlation between cox-2 and egfr protein expression (p = 0.555). conclusions: cox-2 and egfr are over-expressed in nsclc. egfr is an independent prognostic factor and a predictive factor for radiotherapy response in nsclc. © 2011 li et al; licensee biomed central ltd.