Identification of EGFR mutation status in male patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: role of (18)F-FDG PET/CT and serum tumor markers CYFRA21-1 and SCC-Ag

BACKGROUND: The high incidence of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations is usually found in female patients with lung adenocarcinoma who have never-smoked. However, reports concerning male patients are scarce. Thus, this study aimed to explore a novel approach based on (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-2-deoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) PET/CT and serum tumor markers (STMs) to determine EGFR mutation status in male patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: A total of 121 male patients with NSCLC were analyzed between October 2019 and March 2022. All patients underwent (18)F-FDG PET/CT scan before treatment and monitored 8 STMs (cytokeratin 19 fragment [CYFRA21-1], squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen [SCC-Ag], carcinoembryonic antigen [CEA], neuron-specific enolase [NSE], carbohydrate antigen [CA] 50, CA125, CA72-4, and ferritin). A comparison was done between EGFR mutant and wild-type patients in terms of the maximum standardized uptake value of primary tumors (pSUV(max)) and 8 STMs. We performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and multiple logistic regression analyses to determine predictors for EGFR mutation status. RESULTS: EGFR mutations were detected in 39 patients (32.2%). Compared with patients with EGFR wild-type, EGFR-mutant patients had lower concentrations of serum CYRFA21-1 (2.65 vs. 4.01, P = 0.002) and SCC-Ag (0.67 vs. 1.05, P = 0.006). No significant differences of CEA, NSE, CA 50, CA125, CA72-4 and ferritin were found between the two groups. The presence of EGFR mutations was significantly associated with low pSUV(max) (< 8.75), low serum SCC-Ag (< 0.79 ng/mL) and CYFRA21-1 (< 2.91 ng/mL) concentrations. The area under ROC curve values were 0.679, 0.655, 0.685 and 0.754, respectively, for low CYFRA21-1, SCC-Ag, pSUV(max) and the combination of these three factors. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that low concentrations of CYFRA21-1 and SCC-Ag, as well as low pSUV(max), were associated with EGFR mutations, and that the combination of these factors resulted in a higher differentiation of EGFR mutation status in male patients with NSCLC. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13550-023-00976-5.