Clinical features and treatment outcome of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with uncommon or complex epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations

INTRODUCTION: Tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) represent the best treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with common exon 19 deletion or exon 21 epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFRm). This is an observational study investigating epidemiology, clinical features and treatment outcome of NSCLC cases harbouring rare/complex EGFRm. RESULTS: Among 764 non-squamous NSCLC cases with known EGFRm status, 26(3.4%) harboured rare/complex EGFRm. Patients receiving first-line TKIs (N = 17) achieved median Progression Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS) of 53 (IC 95%, 2–105) and 84 (CI 95%, 27–141) weeks respectively, without significant covariate impact. Response Rate and Disease Control Rate (DCR) were 47% and 65%, respectively. Uncommon exon 19 mutations achieved longer OS and PFS and higher DCR compared with exon 18 and 20 mutations. No additional gene mutation was discovered by MassARRAY analysis. TKIs were globally well tolerated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of advanced non-squamous NSCLC harbouring rare/complex EGFRm referred to our Center between 2010 and 2015 was performed. Additional molecular pathways disregulation was explored in selected cases, through MassARRAY analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Peculiar clinical features and lower TKIs sensitivity of uncommon/complex compared with common EGFRm were shown. Exon 19 EGFRm achieved the best TKIs treatment outcome, while the optimal treatment of exon 18 and 20 mutations should be further clarified.