Expression of a truncated epidermal growth factor receptor in oral squamous cell carcinomas.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) frequently overexpresses in cancers, including oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). We previously identified a truncated EGFR (tEGFR) in human oral keratinocytes. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value of tEGFR in 45 cases of OSCC. tEGFR expression inversely correlated with EGFR expression (r=-0.83, P<0.01), decreased with T-stage progression and lymph-node metastasis (P<0.05). The EGFR/tEGFR ratio correlated with the lymph-node metastasis (P<0.05) and survival outcome (hazard ratio =3.601; P<0.05). These results suggest that tEGFR may play an important roles in oral carcinogenesis and that the EGFR/tEGFR ratio may be a prognostic factor for OSCC.