title: Efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors for Chinese patients with squamous cell carcinoma of lung harboring EGFR mutation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation mostly occurred in lung adenocarcinoma, rarely in squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC). EGFR mutation rate in SQCC varied in previous reports, and the efficacy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in SQCC harboring EGFR mutation has not yet been fully evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy EGFR-TKIs for Chinese patients with SQCC of lung harboring EGFR mutation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two cohorts of patients were analyzed. The first cohort included 146 consecutive post-operation SQCC patients from January 2008 to October 2012. The second cohort included 63 patients with advanced SQCC receiving EGFR-TKIs treatment. EGFR mutation analysis was performed with Real-time PCR method. The pathologic diagnosis was validated with immunohistochemistry (IHC) for patients harboring activated EGFR mutation. And the efficacy of EGFR-TKIs in squamous cell carcinoma of lung (SQCC) was evaluated in patients with activated EGFR mutations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the first cohort, 146 resected patients, EGFR mutations were detected in 3 patients, with the mutation rate of 2.0%. In cohort two, 63 patients treated with EGFR-TKIs, 15 patients possessed activated EGFR mutations. The response rate and disease control rate in these patients was 26.7% and 66.7% respectively. 5 patients had disease control over 6 months. The progression free survival (PFS) in EGFR-mutated patients was 3.9 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Chinese SQCC patients, EGFR mutation rate was extremely low. EGFR-TKIs seemed to be less effective in EGFR-mutated SQCC patients, but some patients could still obtain benefit from EGFR-TKIs. To identify this part of patients, further study was warranted in the future.
authors.affiliation: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine Guangzhou 510060, China;
authors.forename: Wenfeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wenhua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhihuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yuxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hongyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yunpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Squamous cell carcinoma of lung (SQCC); epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFR mutation); epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs); immunohistochemistry (IHC)