Role of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Expression on Patient Survival in Pancreatic Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Background/Aims: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been considered as an attractive and potential therapeutic target of pancreatic cancer. However, the clinical importance of EGFR expression remains controversial. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of previous studies to quantitatively review the effects of EGFR expression on survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Results: Eight studies (570 patients) were included to perform a meta-analysis of the survival results. Overall, positivity for EGFR expression was 45.1% in pancreatic carcinoma. The combined hazard ratio was 1.225 (95% CI 1.014-1.481; p = 0.035), indicating that EGFR expression has a significant impact on survival. Heterogeneity was absent between studies and publication bias, which suggests that the summary statistics obtained may approximate the actual average. Three trials reported a survival disadvantage for patients with EGFR expression while five trials reported no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: EGFR expression is a poor prognostic factor for survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel and IAP