Patent ID: 8609354

Claim:
A method for detecting and analyzing whether a patient suffering from a cancer is responsive or non-responsive to the treatment with an EGFR inhibitor, the method comprising the steps of: (a) determining in a tissue section from a tumor sample obtained from said patient (i) the expression level of an EGFR protein in said tissue section by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and (ii) the level of EGFR gene copy number or the level of copy number of chromosome 7 by enzymatic metallography, wherein an area of highest expression of EGFR in a tissue section from said tumor sample is determined by IHC based on staining intensity, and using enzymatic metallography, a gene copy number of EGFR gene or chromosome 7 is counted from the cells residing in said area of highest expression in the tumor sample; and (b) selecting said patient for treatment with said EGFR inhibitor, if the tumor sample of said patient displays expression of EGFR protein and an amplified copy number of the EGFR gene or chromosome 7.