Microdroplet Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction for Precision Detection of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Mutations

On a global scale, lung cancer continues to be the primary contributor to cancer-related deaths, with its prevalence ranking second only to that of kidney cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) constitutes approximately 80-85% of all reported lung cancer cases. The T790M mutation in the EGFR gene is a widely recognized primary determinant of acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). The presence of this condition has been observed in approximately 50-60% of those experiencing progressive illness. Therefore, the implementation of an expeditious and highly responsive approach for detecting T790M mutations in the EGFR gene is essential for the expeditious identification of non-small cell lung cancer. In the current study, ddPCR was used to detect the T790M mutation with a detection limit of 10 copies/µL, which is 10-fold higher than the sensitivity of qPCR (1 × 10² copies/µL). For the 15 simulated samples, ddPCR was capable of detecting the presence of T790M mutations in the EGFR gene, which were observed to be at reduced levels when analyzed using qPCR. The detection of T790M mutations inside the EGFR gene by a fast detection method is being investigated to determine its suitability.