Clin Cancer Res
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The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its ligand transforming growth factor (TGF) alpha are hypothesized to form an autocrine growth loop in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to play an important role in tumor formation and progression. We studied the association between overexpression of EGFR, TGF-alpha, or both, and overall survival of patients with resectable NSCLC. Overexpression, defined as >20% of tumor cells staining on immunohistochemistry, was examined in 96 tumor samples from consecutive patients having resection of previously untreated, well-staged NSCLC who were then followed prospectively (median follow-up, 20.7 months). ⋯ Differential overexpression of amphiregulin in malignant versus normal lung was observed, but this expression pattern did not have a prognostic impact. Thus, EGFR and TGF-alpha overexpression is frequent in early-stage NSCLC but is not associated with a survival difference. These findings suggest that this growth factor/receptor loop is more important for lung tumor formation than for tumor progression.