ObjectiveTo analyze the relationship between the mutation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene and clinicopathological features in patients with lung cancer.

MethodsThe tissue samples in seventy patients with advanced or locally advanced inoperable lung cancer were collected by lung puncture or bronchoscopy biopsy, and the EGFR gene mutations were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).According to the test results, the patients were divided into the mutation group and no mutation group, and two groups were treated with nituzumab combined with docetaxel and cisplatin.The age, sex, smoking history, degree of differentiation, histological type, lymph node metastasis and tumor diameter characteristics were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression model, and the disease control rate (DCR) was compared between two groups.

ResultsThe mutation rates of EGFR gene in both peripheral blood and biopsy specimen were 42.86% (30/70), and the consistency was good.The differences of age, sex, smoking history, degree of differentiation and histological type between two groups were statistically significant (P < 0.01), and the differences of lymph node metastasis and tumor diameter between two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05).The mutation rate of EGFR gene in patients aged older than 50 years was higher than that in patients younger than 50 years (P < 0.01).The mutation rates of EGFR gene in female patients with lung cancer and patients without smoking history were higher than that in males and patients with smoking history, respectively (P < 0.01).The differences of the mutation rate of EGFR among patients with non-differentiated, low-differentiated and high-differentiated lung cancer were significant, and the higher the degree of differentiation was, the higher the mutation rate was (P < 0.01).The mutation rates of EGFR gene in patients with adenosquamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma were higher than that in patients with large cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (P < 0.01).The results of multivariate analysis showed that EGFR gene mutation was independently related to the differentiation degree and histological type (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). The efficacy in EGFR mutation group was significantly better than that in no mutation group (P < 0.01).

ConclusionsEGFR gene mutations are frequently found in exons 19 and 21, and most of them are in women over 50 years old, the female, no smoking history, high differentiation, adenosquamous carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, degree of tumor differentiation and histological classification are independently related to EGFR gene mutation.The DCR of patients with EGFR gene mutation is high, which is conducive to the screening of clinical targeted therapy.