Driver oncogenes in Sub-Saharan African patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer can exhibit driver oncogenes, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), that are possible targets for therapy. The prevalence of these rearranged driver oncogenes is influenced by race, smoking habits, and gender. Most data come from Caucasian and Asian populations. To our knowledge, there is no literature available about the prevalence of driver oncogenes in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the tobacco epidemic is still in the early stage. In this small case series, 6 patients of Sub-Saharan African ethnicity with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma are described. EGFR mutation was present in 3/6 patients and ALK rearrangement in 1/6 patients. This incidence seems high but interestingly, all patients were non-smokers or light smokers. In this series, the high prevalence of driver oncogene was probably related to low smoking habits and these initial data in Sub-Saharan Africans suggest high prevalence of driver mutations for this reason.