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80th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

20.05. - 24.05.2009, Rostock

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EGFR and HER-2/neu in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck

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  • Eva Schneider - Klinik und Poliklinik für HNO, Homburg/Saar, Germany
  • corresponding author Vivienne Armbruester - Klinik und Poliklinik für HNO, Homburg/Saar, Germany
  • Steffi Urbschat - Institut für Neurochirurgie, Abt. Neuroonokolgie, Homburg/Saar, Germany
  • Silke Wemmert - Institut für Neurochirurgie, Abt. Neuroonkologie, Homburg/Saar, Germany
  • Ulrike Bechtel - Klinik und Poliklinik für HNO, Homburg/Saar, Germany
  • Bernhard Schick - Klinik und Poliklinik für HNO, Homburg/Saar, Germany

German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. 80th Annual Meeting of the German Society of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. Rostock, 20.-24.05.2009. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2009. Doc09hno078

doi: 10.3205/09hno078, urn:nbn:de:0183-09hno0783

Published: July 22, 2009

© 2009 Schneider et al.
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Outline

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Introduction: It is known since several years that head and neck tumors show significant enhanced expressions of the EGFR and HER-2/neu genes. Nevertheless the reason for that overexpression is still unclear. Activating mutations seem to be rare in these tumors and the existence and relevance of gene specific amplifications or gains are controversy discussed.

In this study we asked for HER-2/neu/chromosome 17 and EGFR/chromosome 7 amplifications in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

Method: In a pilot study, FISH-analyses of 7 primary squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (2 oral carcinomas, 1 carcinoma of the floor of the mouth, 1 carcinoma of the base of the tongue, 1 tonsillar carcinoma, 1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 1 laryngeal carcinoma) were performed with probes for chromosome 7 and 17 and specific probes for EGFR and HER-2/neu.

Results: Although there have been multiple changes in various tumor tissues compared to normal tissues so far, neither amplifications of EGFR or HER-2/neu nor gene specific gains or losses of these loci were detected in the analyzed tissues.

Summary: According to our study gains of the EGFR and HER-2/neu genes don’t seem to play an important role in the oncogenesis of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.