Biological and clinical impact of membrane EGFR expression in a subgroup of OC patients from the phase IV ovarian cancer MITO-16A/MANGO-OV2A trial

BACKGROUND: Validated prognostic biomarkers for anti-angiogenic therapy using the anti-VEGF antibody Bevacizumab in ovarian cancer (OC) patients are still an unmet clinical need. The EGFR can contribute to cancer-associated biological mechanisms in OC cells including angiogenesis, but its targeting gave disappointing results with less than 10% of OC patients treated with anti-EGFR compounds showing a positive response, likely due to a non adequate selection and stratification of EGFR-expressing OC patients. METHODS: EGFR membrane expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in a cohort of 310 OC patients from the MITO-16A/MANGO-OV2A trial, designed to identify prognostic biomarkers of survival in patients treated with first line standard chemotherapy plus bevacizumab. Statistical analyses assessed the association between EGFR and clinical prognostic factors and survival outcomes. A single sample Gene Set Enrichment-like and Ingenuity Pathway Analyses were applied to the gene expression profile of 195 OC samples from the same cohort. In an OC in vitro model, biological experiments were performed to assess specific EGFR activation. RESULTS: Based on EGFR-membrane expression, three OC subgroups of patients were identified being the subgroup with strong and homogeneous EGFR membrane localization, indicative of possible EGFR out/in signalling activation, an independent negative prognostic factor for overall survival of patients treated with an anti-angiogenic agent. This OC subgroup resulted statistically enriched of tumors of histotypes different than high grade serous lacking angiogenic molecular characteristics. At molecular level, among the EGFR-related molecular traits identified to be activated only in this patients’ subgroup the crosstalk between EGFR with other RTKs also emerged. In vitro, we also showed a functional cross-talk between EGFR and AXL RTK; upon AXL silencing, the cells resulted more sensitive to EGFR targeting with erlotinib. CONCLUSIONS: Strong and homogeneous cell membrane localization of EGFR, associated with specific transcriptional traits, can be considered a prognostic biomarker in OC patients and could be useful for a better OC patients’ stratification and the identification of alternative therapeutic target/s in a personalized therapeutic approach. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-023-02651-y.