Vulvar cancer is a rare
female genital neoplasm representing 5% of all gynecological malignancies, and
occurring most frequently in women between the ages of 65 and 75. The most
common histological type is squamous cell carcinoma followed by melanoma, basal
cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma. In the early disease stage, surgical
treatment can be effective; however, once recurrence and metastasis occur,
advanced vulvar cancer is often difficult to be treated. Overexpression, amplification, and mutations in epidermal
growth factor receptor (EGFR) have
been found in many types of cancer, including primary vulvar squamous
cell carcinoma and metastatic lesions, and correlate with a poor prognosis.
EGFR mutation detection has become a routine molecular test with significant
implications for prognosis. Thus, the goal of this study was to learn more
about EGFR gene somatic mutations in vulvar cancer and to determine whether EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have different efficacies in patients with and without EGFR mutations.
The results showed that targeted therapy based on EGFR mutation status
could significantly improve the prognosis of patients. Thus, molecular
profiling to determine mutation status may be an initial step towards
developing effective therapeutic regimens to treat advanced vulvar cancer.
Cite this paper
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