Analysis of EGFR Mutation Status in Algerian Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status is used as a predictive biomarker for the tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The incidence of EGFR mutations appears to vary according to ethnic and geographical backgrounds. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the EGFR mutation status in Algerian NSCLC patients and its association with clinicopathological features.

We examined the presence of EGFR mutations (Exons 19-21) in 58 unselected  NSCLC samples using PCR followed by direct sequencing.

The present study included 53 (91.4%) men and 5 (8.6%) women, with a median age of 59 (ranging from 44 to 94 years old). EGFR mutations were detected in 23 patients, with an overall rate of 39.6%. There were 21 (91.3%) cases with the exon-21 L585R single mutation and two (8.7%) with dual mutations of exon-19 deletions and L585R. EGFR mutations were more frequently found in patients with confirmed adenocarcinoma (14/27, 51.8%) than in non-adenomatous NCSCL subtypes (3/14, 21.4%; p=0.03). Furthermore, early stages of the disease were significantly associated with a higher rate of EGFR mutations (14/27, 51.8%) compared with those at  advanced stage (5/21, 23.8%; p=0.02). There were no significant differences in EGFR mutation frequency by age, gender, or smoking status.

We found that Algerian NSCLC patients exhibited a high rate of EGFR mutations, which was quite similar to that in Asians population rather than Caucasian patients. Thus, TKI-based treatments may be more beneficial for Algerian patients with NSCLC. Further studies using a large number of patients are required to confirm our preliminary findings.