An Analysis of the EGFR Gene Mutation in 238 Patients with Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in Hunan Province

Objective To investigate the EGFR gene mutations and analyze their clinical significance in patients with non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) in Hunan province. Methods A total of 238 paraffin embedded tissues were taken from patients with NSCLC who were treated at Hunan Cancer Hospital from August 2011 to April 2013. The tissue DNA was extracted and EGFR gene in exon 18 to 21 was subjected for PCR amplification and direct sequencing. Results The overall mutation rate of EGFR gene was 35.3%(84/238) in 238 NSCLC patients. The mutation rates of EGFR gene at exon 18, 19, 20, 21 were respectively 2.4%(2/84), 67.9%(57/84), 3.6%(3/84) and 26.2%(22/84). The mutations of EGFR exon 19 were all resulted in the deletions of codons 746 to 753, and the main mutation type was elimination of codons E746-A750. The main mutation type of exon 21 was L858R. The mutation rate of EGFR gene was higher in female patients than in male ones, and higher in non-smoking patients than in smoking ones, but had no correlation with the age, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis of patients with NSCLC(all P0.05). Conclusion The EGFR mutations in NSCLC patients in Hunan province were mainly found in exon 19 and 21, and the mutation rate of exon 19 was higher than that of exon 21. The EGFR mutations were more commonly found in female, adenocarcinoma and non-smoking patients.