Relationship of epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutations, clinicopathologic features in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

SUMMARYRelationship of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor gene mutations, clinicopathologic features in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.OBJECTIVE: To investigate epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in exons 18, 19, 20 and 21 of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to analyze the relationship of EGFR mutations with clinicopathological features and prognosis.METHODS: The EGFR gene exons 18,19, 20 and 21 of paraffin-embedded tumor tissue were amplified by PCR, followed by direct sequencing in 48 specimens of NSCLC. The relationship of EGFR gene mutations in NSCLC with clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed.RESULTS: EGFR mutations were detected in 18 of 48 (42.6%) patients with NSCLC. There were 9 cases of the mutations in exon 20, 7 cases of the mutations in exon 19 and 2 cases of the mutations in exon 21. Mutations were more frequently observed in women (71.4%, 5/7) than in men (31.7%, 13/41) (p=0.086). Non-smokers (100%, 5/5) than smokers (30.2%, 13/43), there was negative correlation of EGFR mutations with smoking status (p=0.005). EGFR mutations were more frequently observed in adenocarcinomas (40.6%, 13/32) than in other types (31.3%, 5/16) (p=0.527). The patients with EGFR mutations had better survival than those with wild-type EGFR (p=0.08). There was no association of EGFR mutations with metastatic spread.CONCLUSIONS: EGFR mutations occur frequently in females, non-smokers and adenocarcinomas. The patients with EGFR mutations have better prognosis. The results may offer a practical approach to select the patients who may benefit from anti-EGFR target therapy.