Correlation of demographic, histological and molecular characteristics and clinical course of the disease in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Aim Retrospective analysis of disease clinical course with a purpose of defining potential prognostic parameters which are essential for optimal target therapy. Methods The study involved 29 patients with histologically confirmed lung adenocarcinoma and existing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, which are treated by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). Results Allegations of a larger prevalence in women and non-smokers were found. The study confirmed dominance of mutations on exon 19 and exon 21. Usefulness of the treatment with erlotinib in terms of increasing survival time was evident. Median survival of patients in the survey sample was 14.5 months. Median survival in relation to gender or smoking status did not show statistical significance. Conclusion Considering obtained results, we have confirmed that patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma and present mutations of epidermal growth factor receptor, who had been treated with first generation TKI, had median survival time of over a year.

Internodal HER2 heterogeneity of axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer patients.

Determination of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status is important for adequate treatment of breast cancer (BC) patients. The novel HER2 gene protein assay (GPA) is particularly convenient, as it allows the simultaneous assessment of HER2 protein expression and gene amplification at individual cell level. Here we investigated the frequency of internodal HER2 heterogeneity in axillary lymph node macrometastases of BC patients and compared HER2 status between primary breast tumor and its metastases. We included a total of 41 female patients operated between 2014 and 2015 for primary BC with axillary lymph node macrometastases. Representative paraffin blocks of metastatic lymph nodes were sectioned and the slides were stained using the GPA in 38 BC cases. GPA results were assessed according to the ASCO/CAP 2013 criteria. We analyzed 12586 individual tumor cells, 120 cells per section of each metastatic lymph node. HER2 status differed between the primary tumor and its metastases in 5/38 cases (13.2%). In patients with at least two metastatic nodes, the HER2 status of lymph node metastases was only slightly different in 4/23 cases (17.4%). Our results indicate rare but substantial differences in HER2 status between primary breast tumor and its axillary lymph node metastases that may direct the choice and outcomes of targeted therapy in BC patients. The impact of the rare and subtle internodal HER2 heterogeneity evidenced in this study remains uncertain. Determining the HER2 status of lymph node metastases in BC seems to be rational, but assessing a limited number of metastatic nodes may be sufficient.