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Characterisation of <em>EGFR and <em>KRAS mutations in non-small cell lung cancer</em></em>

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death and one of the most common cancer types worldwide. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been shown to be an important therapeutic target in non-small cell lung cancer. Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homologue (KRAS) is a downstream signalling molecule in the EGFR pathway. Lung cancer patients with <em>EGFR </em>mutations respond to tyrosine EGFR inhibitor therapy, in contrast, patients with <em>KRAS </em>mutations do not benefit of such treatment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study investigates the frequency of <em>EGFR </em>and <em>KRAS </em>mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Fifty-one lung cancer patients with primary non-small cell lung cancer diagnosed between 1995 and 2005 in the Uppsala-Örebro region were analysed by Sanger sequencing and Pyrosequencing to determine the mutation status of these genes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Five <em>EGFR </em>mutations were found in four patients (8%), two deletions in exon 19, one point mutation in exon 20 and two point mutations in exon 21. <em>KRAS </em>mutations were found in 12 patients (24%), ten codon 12 mutations and two codon 61 mutations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study confirms previous observations regarding the frequency of <em>EGFR </em>and <em>KRAS </em>mutations in non-small cell lung cancer. Mutations in <em>EGFR </em>and <em>KRAS </em>were mutually exclusive, indicating that both mutations present relevant tumorigenic genomic aberrations.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:uu-126041
Date January 2010
CreatorsMartinsson, Caroline
PublisherUppsala University, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, text

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