Cancer Management and Research (Aug 2018)

Surgical significance and efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with primary lung adenosquamous carcinoma

  • Zhang C,
  • Yang H,
  • Lang B,
  • Yu X,
  • Xiao P,
  • Zhang D,
  • Fan L,
  • Zhang X

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 10
pp. 2401 – 2407

Abstract

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Chao Zhang,1,* Haitang Yang,2–4,* Baoping Lang,1 Xiangdong Yu,1 Peng Xiao,1 Dian Zhang,1 Liwen Fan,5 Xiao Zhang1 1Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Luoyang Central Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Luoyang, China; 2Division of General Thoracic Surgery, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland; 3Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 4Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 5Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Primary adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) of the lung is a rare and aggressive disease. The accurate diagnosis of ASC based on small biopsies is challenging because of the mixed components within the tumor, and this may lead to suboptimal treatment. Furthermore, information about the efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) in lung ASC is limited. Patients and methods: Data on a cohort of patients with lung ASC who underwent surgery between October 2008 and December 2016 at a single institution were retrospectively reviewed. Results: This study analyzed 148 patients. Differences between the pre- and post-resection diagnosis were observed. Based on the results of preoperative biopsy, patients were diagnosed as having squamous cell carcinoma (n=26), adenocarcinoma (n=20), poorly differentiated carcinoma (n=20), and large cell carcinoma (n=1), and finally diagnosed as having ASC based on histopathological examination of the surgical specimens. Thirty patients (20.3%) with EGFR-sensitizing mutations (TKI group) were treated with EGFR-TKIs after surgery, whereas the remaining patients (79.7%) with unknown EGFR-mutation status received chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy alone (non-TKI group). TKI treatment was associated with better median overall survival (OS) (HR=0.619; p=0.034). Multivariate analysis identified the presence of EGFR-TKI treatment as an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR=0.471; p=0.003). Conclusion: Discrepancies between the pre- and post-operative diagnosis reflect the inadequacy of non-resection approaches to the diagnosis of ASC. ASC patients harboring EGFR-sensitizing mutations who were treated with EGFR-TKIs showed a significantly better prognosis than those receiving chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy alone. Keywords: adenosquamous carcinoma, lung, EGFR, surgery, recurrence

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