Therapeutic strategies and genetic profile comparisons in small cell carcinoma and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the lung using next-generation sequencing

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) of the lung are classified as variants of endocrine carcinoma and subdivided into pure or combined type. Clinical benefit of target therapy has not been established in these tumors. This study aimed to compare genetic and clinicopathological features between SCLC and LCNEC or pure and combined types, and explore the possibility of target therapy using next-generation sequencing. In 13 SCLC and 22 LCNEC cases, 72 point mutations, 19 deletions, and 3 insertions were detected. As therapeutically targetable variants, mutations in EGFR (L858R), KRAS (G12D, G12A, G12V), and PIK3CA (E545K) were detected in 5 cases. The case harboring EGFR mutation showed response to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor. However, there are no clinicopathological features associated with therapeutically targetable cases. And there was no significant genetic feature between SCLC and LCNEC or pure and combined types. In conclusion, although patients with SCLC and LCNEC may benefit from target therapy, they were not identifiable by clinicopathologic background. And there was not significant genetic difference between SCLC and LCNEC, including between pure and combined types. Classifying SCLC and LCNEC in same category is reasonable. However, distinguishing the pure type from combined type was not validated. Comprehensive genetic analysis should be performed to detect targetable variants in any type of SCLC and LCNEC.