UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor strategies are now established in cancer treatment. We have recently described the presence of EGFRvIII (a variant EGFR) in prostatic tumours from UK white men and identified it as another potential target for anti-prostate cancer treatment. In this study we investigated the level of expression of this abnormal protein in prostatic tissues in black men.

Methods: EGFRvIII expression was determined in sections of normal, benign hyperplastic (BPH) and carcinomatous (CaP) prostatic archival tissues from black and white men using streptavidin immunohistochemical techniques. EGFRvIII immunoreactivity was scored visually using a semi-quantitative method and the results compared statistically.

Results: EGFRvIII expression increased with increasing malignancy in both study populations (CaP > BPH > Normal p, <0.0001). Furthermore, EGFRvIII expression was similar in both BPH and CaP tissues in black and white men (p, 0.86 and 0.31 respectively). These results demonstrate that EGFRvIII immunoreactivity in prostatic tumours in black men is similar to that in white men. Anti-cancer treatments directed at the EGFRvIII should be equally effective in men from both subpopulations.