Immunoscoring of epidermal growth factor receptor expression in recurrent cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a genetic disease with high prevalence and poor survival. Evaluation of recurrent tumor for a valid biomarker may serve as a predictive system for analyzing prognostic course of this disease. This study was designed to evaluate and compare the immunoscoring of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression in recurrent cases with their matched regional/locoregional recurrence and non-recurrent cases of OSCC. METHODOLOGY: A total of 64 cases of OSCC were studied and immunostained with polyclonal EGFR antibody. Of these, 33 cases recurred at the end of 5 years of follow-up. For positive evaluation of EGFR staining, immunscoring was performed by adding the extent score and intensity score. RESULTS: We observed significant increase in EGFR immunoscore in recurrent cases of OSCC (P-value 0.001). Immunoscoring of EGFR expression is an independent prognostic and/or predictive parameter for recurrence in OSCC (Odds Ratio: 6.52). CONCLUSION: Immunoscore using EGFR can be incorporated into traditional classification, thus providing an essential prognostic and potentially predictive tool.