Major Driver Mutations in Adenosquamous Lung Carcinomas

The June 2014 issue of Journal of Thoracic Oncology (abstract) features a thorough study of major known driver mutations (EGFR, KRAS, ERBB2, BRAF, PIK3CA, AKT1, RET, and ALK) in a series of 76 patients from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center with resected adenosquamous lung carcinoma (AdSqLC) by Wang et al. and compared this group with a group of 646 patients with resected adenocarcinoma (ADC) during the same study period.  This is a nifty paper that will serve well as a useful contemporary reference when you next encounter a patient with adenosquamous lung carcinoma. From their "Table 1" data, it is of note that they found significantly higher smokers in AdSqLC versus ADC. Known mutant kinases were demonstrated in 57% (43/76) patients.  EGFR mutations were the most common found (32%, 24/76) but were significantly lower compared to the ADC "control" group.  EGFR mutation was significantly higher in never smokers compared to smokers as expected, but it is notable that the frequency of EGFR mutation was higher in glandular dominant AdSqLC than squamous dominant AdSqLC.  Other gene mutations were similar to those found in ADC.  While the frequency of driver mutations was similar between "classical" AdSqLC and poorly-differentiated ADC, the frequency of RET and ALK fusion genes was higher in solid growth glandular component-predominant AdSqLC versus classical AdSqLC. Microdissection o...
Source: The Daily Sign-Out - Category: Pathologists Authors: Tags: Lung Cancer Non small cell lung cancer Source Type: blogs