Predictive Efficacy of Low Burden EGFR Mutation Detected by Next-Generation Sequencing on Response to EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma

Direct sequencing remains the most widely used method for the detection ofepidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)mutations in lung cancerl however, its relatively low sensitivity limits its clinical use. The objective of this study was toinvestigate the sensitivity of detecting an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation from peptide nucleic acid-locked nucleic acid polyrnerase chain reaction (PNA-LNA PCR) clamp and Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM)techniques compared to that by direct sequencing. Furthermore, the predictive efficacy of EGFR mutations detected by PNA-LNA PCR clamp was evaluated. EGFR mutational status was assessed by direct sequencing, PNA-LNA PCR clamp, and Ion Torrent PGM in 57 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated the predictive efficacy of PNIA-LNAPCR clamp on the EGFR-TKI treatment in 36 patients with advanced NSCLC retrospectively. Compared to direct sequencing (16/57, 28.1%), PNA-LNA PCR clamp (27/57, 47.4%) and Ion Torrent PGNI (26/57, 45.6%) detected more EGFR mutations. EGFR mutant patients had significantly longer progressive free survival (14.31 vs. 21.61 months, P=0.003) than that of EGFR wild patients when tested with PNA-LNIA PR clamp. However, no difference in response rate to EGFR TKIs (75.0% vs. 82.4% P=0.195) or overall survival (34.39 vs. 44.10 months, P=0.422) was observed between the EGFR mutations by direct sequencing or PNA-LNA PCR clamp. Our results demonstrate firstly that patients with EGFR mutations were detected more frequently by PNA-LNA PCR clamp and Ion Torrent PGM than those by direct sequencing. EGFR mutations detected by PNA-LNA PCR clamp may be as a predicative factor for EGFR TKI response in patients with NSCLC