The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a promising therapeutic target in cancer, but its clinical value in breast cancer remains controversial. Our previous studies have found that quantitative analysis of biomarkers with quantum dot-based nanotechnology had better detection performance than conventional immunohistochemistry. The present study was undertaken to investigate the prognostic value of EGFR in breast cancer using quantum dot-based quantitative spectral analysis.EGFR expression in 65 breast cancer specimens was detected by immunohistochemistry and quantum dot-immunohistochemistry, and comparisons were made between the two methods. EGFR expression in tissue microarrays of 240 breast cancer patients was then detected by quantum dot-immunohistochemistry and spectral analysis. The prognostic value of EGFR immunofluorescence area (EGFR area) for five-year recurrence-free survival was investigated.The same antigen localization, high correlation of staining rates (r = 0.914), and high agreement of measurement (κ = 0.848) of EGFR expression in breast cancer were found by quantum dot-immunohistochemistry and immunohistochemistry. The EGFR area showed significant differences by tumor grade, lymph node status, HER2 status, and hormone receptor status (all P < 0.05). Patients in the large EGFR area (≥ 30.51) group had a significantly higher five-year recurrence rate (47.2

作者：Xue-Qin, Yang；Chuang, Chen；Chun-Wei, Peng；Jin-Xuan, Hou；Shao-Ping, Liu；Chu-Bo, Qi；Yi-Ping, Gong；Xiao-Bo, Zhu；Dai-Wen, Pang；Yan, Li

来源：International journal of nanomedicine 2011 年 6卷