Serum Concentrations of IGF-1R, ERK2, and EGFR and Their Clinical Significance in Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors

Abstract

Neuroendocrine tumors are a heterogeneous group of tumors located mainly in the gastrointestinal tract or the respiratory system. We aimed to determine the concentrations of IGF-1R, ERK2, and EGFR using the ELISA method in serum samples from patients with NETs and from a control group. Results were evaluated with the selected demographic, clinicopathological, and biochemical characteristics. The analyses performed on a group of patients (80 in the study group and 62 in the control group) showed that the concentration of EGFR in patients with neuroendocrine tumors was significantly higher (p < 0.001) compared to the control group. Additionally, a significantly higher (p < 0.001) EGFR concentration was found in GEP-NET. Our results indicate that impaired EGFR signaling pathways are important in the context of neuroendocrine tumors. The data presented are a good starting point for further analysis of these proteins.