E-cadherin, beta catenin, EGFR and cylin D1 expression in nasopharyngeal carcinoma in nigerians and correlation with stage at presentation and possible long term prognosis

Aim To determine the pattern of expression of selected bio-markers in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and correlate it with stage at presentation and prognosis Methods In a prospective study, formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumour tissues from patients with NPC were stained using immunohistochemistry (IHC) for selected bio-markers, namely E-cadherin, beta catenin, EGFR and cyclin D1 Results Forty patients were included in the analysis and had IHC. Age ranged from 17-65 years with a mean age of 48 years. About 80% of our cases had TNM stage III while the rest had stage IV disease at presentation. Also all our cases were either WHO histologic type III or IV tumours. Beta catenin expression was present in about 50% of patients. E-cadherin expression was present in all cases in about 50-60% of tumour cells. Cyclin-D1 was also present in all cases in 20-30% of tumour cells. EGFR expression was strong and in a minimum of 70% of tumour cells in all cases. Conclusion The expression pattern of E-cadherin, beta catenin, EGFR and cyclin D1 in this study correlates with accelerated progression, early metastasis, advanced disease and high probability of local recurrence even after radiotherapy and chemotherapy.