High Cytoplasmic and Membranous Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Expression as a Risk Factor for High-Grade Ovarian Carcinoma (HGOC)

High-grade ovarian carcinoma (HGOC) is one of the most aggressive grades of ovarian cancer and causes high mortality. The molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of high-grade ovarian carcinoma related to high EGFR expression are still not fully understood. This study aimed to evaluate the cytoplasmic and membranous EGFR expression as a risk factor for high-grade ovarian carcinoma. This study employed a case-control design with consecutive sampling among ovarian cancer patients at BaliMed Denpasar Hospital and the Anatomical Pathology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Warmadewa University. EGFR expression was analyzed immunohistochemically and assessed by H-score. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test and binary logistic regression. P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. This study involved 40 ovarian cancer samples, with the majority (86.7%) aged ≥50 years. The most common histopathological type was endometrioid (45%). As many as 80% of high-grade ovarian cancer (HGOC) cases showed high EGFR expression (>50%), in contrast to low-grade ovarian cancer (LGOC) (40%). High EGFR expression increased the risk of HGOC by 10.5 times (p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that high EGFR expression was an independent risk factor for HGOC, with an aOR of 41.5 (p-value = 0.008; 95% CI: 2.65–649.14). High EGFR expression was significantly associated with an increased risk of HGOC. Patients with high EGFR expression had a greater risk of HGOC than patients with low to moderate EGFR expression.