title: Molecular profiles of EGFR, K-ras, c-met, and FGFR in pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma, a rare lung malignancy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a rare type of lung cancer characterized by the poor response to conventional chemotherapy and subsequent disappointing outcomes. Therefore, it is paramount to delineate the molecular characteristics of this disease entity.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we retrospectively examined the surgical specimens of 61 patients who underwent lung surgery. Mutational or gene amplification statuses of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), k-ras, c-kit, c-met, and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) were examined using genomic DNA sequencing, real-time PCR and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age was 61 years, and 50 patients were men and 11 were women. In the histologic review of epithelial component, adenocarcinoma were in 44 cases (72%), squamous cell carcinoma in 15 (25%) and large cell carcinoma in 2 patients (3%). Overall, 30 cases (49%) had any molecular alterations. Nine patients (15%) possessed EGFR deletion in exon 19 (n = 8) or L858R mutations in exon 21 (n = 1), while 3 other cases having atypical EGFR mutations. Six patients (9.8%) had k-ras mutations in exon 12, and 3 had c-kit mutations. High gene copy number of c-met was found in 11 patients (18.0%) and that of FGFR was in 6 patients (9.8%). No significant relationships were identified among the occurrence and type of mutations and patient survival or any other clinicopathological variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the diverse repertoire of mutational profiles observed in PPC samples, clinical trials based on accurate cancer-genotyping should be considered as a legitimate treatment scheme for this rare disease entity in the future.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
authors.forename: Soohyeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Youngwook
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Mu
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yoon La
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jhin Gook
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Mog
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Yeon Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Keunchil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Myung-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000235:genetics*; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D035583:Rare Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C117307:KRAS protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D018631:ras Proteins