Analysis of EGFR Mutation Status in Algerian Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status is used as a predictive biomarker for the tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The incidence of EGFR mutations appears to vary according to ethnic and geographical backgrounds. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the EGFR mutation status in Algerian NSCLC patients and its association with clinicopathological features. METHODS: We examined the presence of EGFR mutations (Exons 19-21) in 58 unselected  NSCLC samples using PCR followed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: The present study included 53 (91.4%) men and 5 (8.6%) women, with a median age of 59 (ranging from 44 to 94 years old). EGFR mutations were detected in 23 patients, with an overall rate of 39.6%. There were 21 (91.3%) cases with the exon-21 L585R single mutation and two (8.7%) with dual mutations of exon-19 deletions and L585R. EGFR mutations were more frequently found in patients with confirmed adenocarcinoma (14/27, 51.8%) than in non-adenomatous NCSCL subtypes (3/14, 21.4%; p=0.03). Furthermore, early stages of the disease were significantly associated with a higher rate of EGFR mutations (14/27, 51.8%) compared with those at  advanced stage (5/21, 23.8%; p=0.02). There were no significant differences in EGFR mutation frequency by age, gender, or smoking status. CONCLUSION: We found that Algerian NSCLC patients exhibited a high rate of EGFR mutations, which was quite similar to that in Asians population rather than Caucasian patients. Thus, TKI-based treatments may be more beneficial for Algerian patients with NSCLC. Further studies using a large number of patients are required to confirm our preliminary findings.

Association of TERT, OGG1, and CHRNA5 Polymorphisms and the Predisposition to Lung Cancer in Eastern Algeria.

Lung cancer remains the most common cancer in the world. The genetic polymorphisms (rs2853669 in TERT, rs1052133 in OGG1, and rs16969968 in CHRNA5 genes) were shown to be strongly associated with the risk of lung cancer. Our study's aim is to elucidate whether these polymorphisms predispose Eastern Algerian population to non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To date, no study has considered this association in the Algerian population. This study included 211 healthy individuals and 144 NSCLC cases. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan probes and Sanger sequencing, and the data were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression adjusted for covariates. The minor allele frequencies (MAFs) of TERT rs2853669, CHRNA5 rs16969968, and OGG1 rs1052133 polymorphisms in controls were C: 20%, A: 31%, and G: 29%, respectively. Of the three polymorphisms, none shows a significant association, but stratified analysis rs16969968 showed that persons carrying the AA genotype are significantly associated with adenocarcinoma risk (pAdj = 0.03, ORAdj = 2.55). Smokers with an AA allele have a larger risk of lung cancer than smokers with GG or GA genotype (pAdj = 0.03, ORAdj = 3.91), which is not the case of nonsmokers. Our study suggests that CHRNA5 rs16969968 polymorphism is associated with a significant increase of lung adenocarcinoma risk and with a nicotinic addiction.