title: KIF5B-RET fusions in Chinese patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been established that "ret proto-oncogene" (RET) fusions are oncogenic drivers in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The prevalence and clinicopathologic characteristics of RET fusions in Chinese patients with NSCLC remain unclear. The objective of the current study was to determine the prevalence and clinicopathologic characteristics of KIF5B-RET fusions (fusions of the RET and kinesin family member 5B [KIF5B] genes) in Chinese patients with NSCLC.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors screened for KIF5B-RET fusions in 392 patients with NSCLC using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay and validated all positive samples using direct sequencing. The relations between KIF5B-RET fusions and clinicopathologic characteristics were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 6 patients (1.5%) were identified who harbored KIF5B-RET fusions. Of these, 4 had adenocarcinoma, 1 had a malignant neuroendocrine tumor, and 1 had squamous cell carcinoma. All patients who were positive for a KIF5B-RET fusion were never-smokers. There was no statistically significant difference in age, sex, smoking status, pathologic stage, or histologic type between patients with and without KIF5B-RET fusions. Patients without KIF5B-RET fusions had a better prognosis than those with KIF5B-RET fusions (median survival, 52.6 months vs 21.0 months; P = .06), with a hazard ratio of 2.398 (95% confidence interval, 0.982-5.856; P = .055) on multivariate analysis. Disease stage (hazard ratio, 2.879) and younger age (<65 years; hazard ratio, 1.485) were identified as independent prognostic factors for better survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KIF5B-RET fusions were quite rare, with a prevalence of approximately 1.5% in Chinese patients with NSCLC, and they were a little more common in patients with adenocarcinoma than in those with squamous carcinoma (1.73% vs 0.84%). In addition, KIF5B-RET fusions also existed in patients with low-grade malignant neuroendocrine tumors.
authors: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors: Weijing
authors: W
authors: Cai
authors: Chunxia
authors: C
authors: Su
authors: Xuefei
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Lihong
authors: L
authors: Fan
authors: Limou
authors: L
authors: Zheng
authors: Ke
authors: K
authors: Fei
authors: Caicun
authors: C
authors: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016547:Kinesins / Q000235:genetics*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: C488101:KIF5B protein, human; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; C099282:RET protein, human; D016547:Kinesins