Chest
Volume 140, Issue 5, November 2011, Pages 1319-1324
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Original Research
Cancer
Multigene Mutation Analysis of Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Diagnosed by Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration

https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.10-3186Get rights and content

Background

The importance of biomarker analysis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is well known. The purpose of this study was to analyze the mutation status of multiple genes in metastatic lymph nodes obtained by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and to examine the correlation between treatments and outcomes.

Methods

Genetic alterations were analyzed in metastatic hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes diagnosed by EBUS-TBNA in 156 patients with NSCLC. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was analyzed using the peptide nucleic acid-locked nucleic acid polymerase chain reaction clamp method (n = 156). V-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (K-ras) (exons 2-3) and tumor protein 53 (p53) (exons 4-8) were analyzed by direct sequencing (n = 113). In addition, retrospective chart review was performed for clinical data analysis.

Results

EGFR gene mutations were detected in 42 cases (26.9%). Twenty-three patients with EGFR mutations received gefitinib, with an overall response rate (partial response [PR]) of 54.5% and disease control rate (PR + stable disease) of 86.4% (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors). K-ras gene mutations were detected in four cases (3.5%), and p53 gene mutations were detected in 47 cases (41.6%). Fifty-two patients underwent conventional chemotherapy (46 patients underwent platinum-based chemotherapy). Patients with p53 gene mutations showed chemoresistance (progressive disease of 42.9%, P = .0339) and a relatively poor prognosis after chemotherapy (P = .1391).

Conclusions

Multigene mutation analysis can be performed in EBUS-TBNA samples of metastatic lymph nodes from patients with NSCLC. EBUS-TBNA allows genetic evaluation of tumor cells within the metastatic node, which may allow physicians to better select treatments, particularly EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Section snippets

Patients

From April 2008 to December 2009, 156 consecutive NSCLC cases with proven hilar and/or mediastinal lymph node metastasis diagnosed by EBUS-TBNA were enrolled. An independent pathologist reviewed all cases and pathologically confirmed the diagnosis of NSCLC in each specimen. EGFR gene mutation assessment was routinely performed in EBUS-TBNA samples when pathology confirmed metastatic disease in the lymph node. A retrospective chart review was performed for all patients. Response to chemotherapy

Patient Characteristics

The clinical characteristics of the 156 patients are listed in Table 1. All cases had hilar and/or mediastinal lymph node metastasis confirmed by EBUS-TBNA. Overall, 138 mediastinal and 18 hilar lymph nodes were evaluated. The median lymph node size was 14.0 mm (range, 4.8-33.4 mm) in the short axis on ultrasound image.

EGFR Gene Mutation Assessment

Mediastinal lymph nodes were first used for EGFR mutation analysis followed by hilar lymph nodes if necessary. EGFR mutation analysis was possible in 154 out of 156 cases (98.7%)

Discussion

We have previously reported the usefulness of EBUS-TBNA for EGFR gene mutation assessment as well as pathologic diagnosis.5 EBUS-TBNA is a minimally invasive modality that is safe and has a high diagnostic yield for tissue diagnosis of mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy in patients with NSCLC.9, 10, 11 Moreover, biopsy samples obtained with EBUS-TBNA can be subjected to molecular analysis in addition to pathologic evaluation, the clinical significance of which is increasing as molecularly

Acknowledgments

Author contributions: Dr Nakajima: contributed to study design, development of methodology, collection of data, analysis and interpretation of data, wrote all sections of the manuscript, and read and approved the final version of this manuscript.

Dr Yasufuku: contributed to analysis and interpretation of data, supervision, and read and approved the final version of this manuscript.

Dr Nakagawara: contributed to study design and supervision and read and approved the final version of this

References (26)

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  • Feasibility of Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration Cytology Specimens for Next Generation Sequencing in Non–small-cell Lung Cancer

    2018, Clinical Lung Cancer
    Citation Excerpt :

    With these guidelines in mind, endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) has become the procedure of choice to diagnose and stage locally metastatic lung cancer. EBUS-TBNA specimen adequacy for genetic testing varies between 70% and 100% and appears to be equivalent to that from histologic samples.2-5 In these studies, however, testing was for individual genes using direct sequencing, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or immunohistochemistry, and genetic testing was limited to EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, ALK, and PIK3CA.

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Part of this article has been published in abstract form (Nakajima T, Yasufuku K, Nakagawara A, et al. Chest. 2010;138(4)(suppl 4):728A).

Funding/Support: This research was supported in part by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) [Grant 21791340 in 2009] (T. N.), and Grant-in-Aid for Cancer Research from Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2009 (T. N.).

Reproduction of this article is prohibited without written permission from the American College of Chest Physicians (http://www.chestpubs.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml).

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