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Vol.51 No.6 contents

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- Original Article -

Detection of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations in Circulating Tumor Cells in Blood Specimens in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Kazutoshi Isobe¹, Yoshinobu Hata², Keita Sato¹, Go Sano¹, Keishi Sugino¹, Susumu Sakamoto¹, Yujiro Takai¹, Sakae Homma^1
1Department of Respiratory Medicine, ²Department of Chest Surgery, Toho University Omori Medical Center, Japan

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Objective. The purpose of this study was to clarify the detection rate of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) using the CellSearch^® system in a blood specimen. Method. We counted the CTCs of 10 patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma who showed EGFR mutation in the primary site, CTCs using the CellSearch^® system (Veridex). CTCs were extracted from blood specimens, and were analysed for an EGFR mutation using the polymerase chain reaction clamp method or the cycleave method. We were compared the incidence of EGFR mutations in CTCs with those in the primary site. Results. The localization of EGFR mutations in the primary site were the exon 19 deletion in 4 patients, exon 21 L858R in 4, exon 19 deletion+exon 20 T790M in 1, and exon 21 L861Q in 1. CTCs were detected in 6 out of 10 cases (60%). The numbers of CTCs per 7.5 ml were 1 in 2 patients, 2 in 2, and 4 in 2, respectively. EGFR mutations in CTCs were detected by cycleave method in 1 out of 6 cases (17%) with the exon 19 deletion. Conclusion. This study showed that the detection rate of EGFR mutation in CTCs in blood specimens was low compared with those in the primary site. Therefore, the detection technique of EGFR mutation localization in CTCs should be improved in the near future.
key words: Non-small cell lung cancer, Epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutation, Circulating tumor cells, CellSearch^® system

Received: May 6, 2011
Accepted: June 29, 2011

JJLC 51 (6): 689-693, 2011