title: Lack of somatic mutations in EGFR tyrosine kinase domain in hepatocellular and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Activating EGFR somatic mutations have been shown to predict treatment response to small molecules targeting the EGFR intracellular tyrosine kinase domain. Recent work on cell-lines and animal models had demonstrated an inhibitory effect of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in hepatocellular and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and clinical trials in these tumour types are ongoing. There are few data on the presence or prevalence of EGFR mutations in hepatocellular and nasopharyngeal carcinomas. We studied exons 18-21 of the EGFR gene from 100 hepatocellular and 102 nasopharyngeal carcinomas, and found no exonic mutations of potential significance. Alternative mechanisms may be important for the observed activity of small molecule EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in hepatocellular and nasopharyngeal carcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Soo-Chin
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seng-Gee
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soo
authors.forename: Wen-Son
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Jia-Yi
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Putti
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Richie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soong
authors.forename: Boon-Cher
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Goh
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D018773:Genes, erbB-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases