An early event of EGFR mutation in pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung.

Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are effective in prolonging progression-free survival time of patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma, typically adenocarcinoma, bearing some active EGFR mutations in their tumors. However, the close relationship between the EGFR mutations and pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung, which is a very rare type of primary lung cancer, has never been elucidated. We present a 60-year-old Japanese woman with pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung that became resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapies including platinum-based chemotherapy, and her general condition seriously deteriorated. Thereafter, treatment with gefitinib was started and resulted in significant tumor shrinkage and a dramatic improvement in her general condition for up to 8.5 months. Analyses of the EGFR mutation in separately microdissected specimens from adenocarcinoma and spindle cell components revealed that both components possessed the L858R point mutation. These findings gave us some insight into the carcinogenesis of pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung in relation to EGFR gene alteration. Testing for EGFR mutation may be important in patients with advanced pleomorphic carcinoma including adenocarcinoma component that is usually chemoresistant.

Lung cancer screening--comparison of computed tomography and X-ray.

Recent studies on lung cancer screening with CT disclosed a discrepancy between its efficiency in detecting early lung cancer and a lack of proof for decreasing mortality from lung cancer. The present study, in a city in Japan where an X-ray screening program is provided, bi-annual CT screening was performed for X-ray screening negative subjects for 4 years. Ten patients with lung cancer were detected among 22,720 person-year subjects (0.044%) through the X-ray screening. Among the X-ray screening-negative subjects, 3305 subjects participated in a CT screening program resulting in the detection of 15 patients with lung cancer (0.454%). All 15 cases detected by CT screening and 5 of the 10 cases detected by X-ray screening were at stage IA. In respect of gender, histological type and CT findings, patients detected by CT screening had a better prognostic profile than those detected by X-ray screening. Survival was significantly better in the former than the latter, both in its entirety comparison and in a comparison limited to patients who underwent surgery. In conclusion, CT screening might have the potential to detect lung cancer with good prognostic factors not limited to early detection. Sufficiently long follow-up time, therefore, would be required to evaluate the efficacy for decreasing lung cancer mortality with CT screening.