Overexpression of the
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is caused by EGFR gene amplification and is sometimes associated with expression of a variant EGFR (deletion exon 2-7 or
EGFRvIII).
EGFRvIII mutation has oncogenic potential and is investigated as a potential therapeutic target. We genotyped the
EGFRvIII mutation status in 252 surgically treated
lung cancer cases. The presence or absence of
EGFRvIII mutation was analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with mutation specific sensor and anchor probes. EGFR copy number was evaluated with PCR-based assay. EGFR mutation status at
kinase domain has been examined and reported.
EGFRvIII mutation was found on 8 of 252 patients. All patients were male, smokers, and 7 had
squamous cell carcinoma. The mutation status was significantly correlated with pathological subtypes (
squamous cell carcinoma vs.
adenocarcinoma, p=0.0114). Sixty EGFR mutations at
kinase domain exclusively existed with
EGFRvIII mutations. EGFR gene copy number was significantly higher in
EGFRvIII mutant (4.711+/-4.968) than in non-
EGFRvIII mutant (2.284+/-1.224) (p=0.0001).
EGFRvIII gene mutation might be one of the mechanisms of increased EGFR copy number. Further studies are needed to confirm the mechanisms of
EGFRvIII mutations for possible anti-EGFR
therapy for
lung cancer.