Prognostic and Clinicopathological Significance of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Expression in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the current evidence in relation to the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpression in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We searched MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus for studies published before November 2022. We evaluated the quality of primary-level studies using the QUIPS tool, conducted meta-analyses, examined inter-study heterogeneity via subgroup analyses and meta-regressions, and performed small-study effects analyses. Fifty primary-level studies (4631 patients) met the inclusion criteria. EGFR overexpression was significantly associated with poor overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.38, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.06–1.79, p = 0.02), N+ status (odds ratio [OR] = 1.37, 95%CI = 1.01–1.86, p = 0.04), and moderately–poorly differentiated OSCC (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.05–1.94, p = 0.02). In addition, better results were obtained by the application of a cutoff point ≥10% tumor cells with EGFR overexpression (p < 0.001). In conclusion, our systematic review and meta-analysis supports that the immunohistochemical assessment of EGFR overexpression may be useful as a prognostic biomarker for OSCC.