The impact of epidermal growth factor receptor gene status on gefitinib-treated Japanese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer

We investigated the relationships between genetic factors and clinical outcome in Japanese non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with gefitinib. Ninety-eight NSCLC patients who had been treated with gefitinib, were screened for mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exons 18-21, KRAS exon2, and polymorphisms including the CA simple sequence repeat in intron1 (CA-SSR1) and single nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter region (-216G/T and -191C/A), using a PCR-based assay and direct sequencing. The EGFR copy number status was also evaluated using a fluorescence in situ hybridization assay. EGFR and KRAS mutations were found in 38 (38.8%) and 8 (8.2%) of the 98 patients, respectively. A high EGFR copy number status was identified in 31 (41.3%) of the 75 assessable patients. Drug-sensitive EGFR mutations limited to exon19 deletions and L858R were independent predictive factors of a stronger sensitivity to gefitinib (p = 0.0002), the overall survival (OS) (p = 0.0036), and prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) (p < 0.0001). The EGFR copy number status was not related to a sensitivity to gefitinib and prolonged OS and PFS. Regarding polymorphisms, patients with a short CA-SSR1 showed a prolonged OS as compared with those with a long length in patients with a drug-sensitive EGFR mutation, although this difference was not significant (p = 0.13). Thus, drug-sensitive EGFR mutations predict a favorable clinical outcome and a high EGFR copy number may not be related to clinical benefits in gefitinib-treated Japanese patients with NSCLC. Our findings also suggest that the CA-SSR1 length may influence the clinical outcome in patients with a drug-sensitive EGFR mutation.