title: Targeted Therapy Management in NSCLC Patients Using Cytology: Experience from a Tertiary Care Cancer Center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis, cytological material has often been used to assist in making a pathologic diagnosis as well as for molecular testing in certain cancers such as in the lung, cervix, and head/neck.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our objective is to share experience from our institution in the use of cytological material in screening for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in a subset of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fine needle aspirates, pleural effusion, cell blocks of 223 NSCLC patients, where cytology suggested malignancy were screened for EGFR mutation in exons 18-21 using Scorpion(®) ARMS real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, EGFR mutation was seen in 43.5 % of study samples. Deletions were highest in exon 19 (27.2 %), followed by exon 21 (15.5 %), exon 18 (5.3 %), and exon 20 (1.9 %). Chi-squared analysis revealed a significant correlation for mutation status in women compared with men (χ (2) = 5.88, p = 0.02), with exon 19 mutation predominating (χ (2) = 5.66, p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate the successful use of cytology material for molecular testing in a subset of NSCLC patients to direct their treatment.
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India. vidya.veldore@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vidya H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Veldore
authors.affiliation: HCG Oncology Hospitals, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Shekar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prabhudesai
authors.affiliation: HCG Oncology Hospitals, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Satheesh
authors.affiliation: HCG Oncology Hospitals, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Shashidhara
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Krishnamoorthy
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hazarika
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tejaswi
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: Ankita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prabhudev
authors.affiliation: HCG Oncology Hospitals, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Radheshyam
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.affiliation: HCG Oncology Hospitals, Bangalore, India.|Centre for Academics and Research, HCG Foundation, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: Raghavendra M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Triesta Reference Laboratory, Triesta Sciences, A Unit of Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd., 8, P Kalinga Rao Road, HCG Tower 1, SR Nagar, Bangalore, 560 027, India.|HCG Oncology Hospitals, Bangalore, India.|Centre for Academics and Research, HCG Foundation, Bangalore, 560 027, India.
authors.forename: B S Ajai
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics*; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics*; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009154:Mutation; D063128:Tertiary Health Care
chemical_list: C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors