Uncommon EGFR mutations in lung adenocarcinoma: features and response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors

EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a heterogeneous disease. The treatment for frequent EGFR mutations relies on tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs); the clinical and therapeutic significance of uncommon EGFR mutations is uncertain.

This is a single-center retrospective study of patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancer (2009-2017). Molecular analyses of EGFR exons 18-21 were performed. Only patients with uncommon mutations were included (p.Glu709X, p.Gly719X, p.Ala767_Val769 dup, p.Ser768Ile, and p.Leu861Gln).

Among 6,747 tumor samples, 95 out 820 patients (11.6%) harbored 113 uncommon EGFR mutations. There were 50 metastatic NSCLC patients for whom the median OS was 18.0 months (95% CI: 15, 32). In this population, the p.Leu861Gln uncommon exon 21 EGFR mutation was associated with poor prognosis (HR: 2.96, 95% CI: 1.39, 6.31; P=0.003). Among those harboring a single uncommon EGFR mutation, median OS was 27.6 months (95% CI: 10.8, not attained) in patients who were treated by chemotherapy only (n=13) versus 6.0 months (95% CI: 2.4, not attained) in patients exclusively treated with a first or second-EGFR-TKI (n=9; HR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.78; P=0.01. In patients with a single uncommon EGFR mutation, first-line chemotherapy was associated with a better overall survival than TKIs (HR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.68; P=0.002). In patients who received first or second-EGFR-TKI as first-line treatment (n=26), OS was significantly better for those with two uncommon EGFR mutations than those with a single uncommon mutation (HR: 0.07, 95% CI: 0.009, 0.54; P=0.001).

In conclusion, uncommon EGFR mutations may be associated with a poor outcome and the data challenge the use of first-generation TKI in such patients, however first-line TKI is more effective in cases of double uncommon mutations and such patients should be treated accordingly.