Mutation Analysis of EGFR Gene in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in Xinjiang

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) that links extracellular signals to the control of cell survival, growth, proliferation and differentiation. EGFR has been a therapeutic target for human malignancies, due to its frequent hyperactivation, therefore, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics of EGFR mutation, and identify patients who are likely to benefit from EGFR mutation. In this study, we examined 766 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients (675 tissue, 83 thoracic water precipitation and 8 plasma samples) tested in pathology department of First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from 2013 to 2017 by using ARMS-PCR method. The correlation between EGFR mutations and clinical pathological features was further explored. Subgroup analyses according to ethnicity, histological type, sample type, and tumour grade were done. Subgroup analyses showed the mutation rate of tumor tissue, thoracic water precipitation and plasm was 30.5%, 37.3%, 50.0% respectively. We found female (p < 0.0001), no smoking (p < 0.001), adenocarcinoma (p < 0.0001), and tissue specimens (Tobacco use) were associated with higher EGFR mutation rate. The most common mutations were exon 19 deletions (47.30%) and L858R point (42.32%) mutation. We have not found any differences between EGFR mutations and ethnic groups especially. In addition, we did not find differences in common mutations and rare sensitive mutations in the survival of targeted therapies.