In fact, the binding EGFR/ligand leads to activation of the TK, thus inducing cell growth, inhibition of apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis [2]. EGFR overexpression in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) is a frequent event related to a poor outcome [3]. In the last few years, many

clinical trials have proven the efficacy of EGFR-targeted therapies in the management of several cancers, including breast, colon, GSK1210151A solubility dmso pancreas, head and neck, renal, and lung carcinomas. Multiple therapeutic strategies have been developed to target EGFR, including monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), ligand-toxin conjugates, and antisense oligonucleotides. Cetuximab and panitumumab are two MoAbs which are active against the ligand selleck inhibitor binding site of EGFR with high specificity and higher affinity for EGFR than the natural ligands TGF-α and EGF, and are now considered

as one standard option for patients with advanced CRC in the first or second line of treatment [4, 5]. Indeed, the anti-EGFR click here erlotinib and gefitinib have undergone extensive clinical testing demonstrating clinical activity in NSCLC [6]. In this context, there is a need for methods enabling response prediction in order to select those patients most likely to benefit from treatment. Therefore, the diagnostic approach of pathologists is changing, leading to an integrated morphological and molecular diagnosis. EGFR overexpression does not seem a good predictor of response to Sucrase treatment both in NSCLC and CRC [7, 8], even though some controversial results are reported [9]. According to poor clinical information obtained from the immunohistochemistry (IHC), the interest in EGFR

gene status increased after Moroni et al [10] proposed that in CRC the response to anti EGFR treatment with cetuximab is related to EGFR gene copy number (GCN) and Lynch et al [11] showed that, in advanced NSCLC, in-frame deletion or missense mutations in the EGFR TK domain can predict the response to therapy with gefinitib. In addition, several authors [12, 13] reported that, in metastatic CRC (mCRC), an increased EGFR GCN or mutations of genes (i.e. k-ras) responsible for downstream signalling are important determinants of response or resistance to anti-EGFR antibodies, such as cetuximab and panitumumab. Specifically, cetuximab has proven efficacy in the treatment of mCRC, but also in NSCLC with squamous cell histology [14]. Although fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is the “”gold standard”" method to detect EGFR gene amplification, this technique presents some disadvantages since the fluorescent signal is not stable and morphological features are difficult to visualize. In contrast, chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) utilizes a peroxidase reaction to detect the locus of interest and can be interpreted by standard light microscopy in the context of morphology [15].