Clinicopathological significance of epidermal growth factor receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in biliary tract malignancies

Background: Biliary tract malignancies consists of gall bladder malignancies and intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Among these, the most common is gall bladder malignancies. The incidence of gall bladder carcinoma in India ranges from 1.01 per 100,000 for males and 10.1 per 100,000 for females. Aims and Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the incidence of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in biliary tract malignancies in Indian population, and to correlate the same with histological features as well as clinical staging and treatment outcomes. Materials and Methods: Fifty cases of proven biliary tract malignancy were immunohistochemically stained for EGFR and VEGF, and scoring was done as per the standard recommendations. Results: In our study, the expression of EGFR was significantly higher in advanced stage disease as well as in poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. Conclusion: Our study shows that advanced biliary tract malignancies show increased expression of EGFR.