Abstract
Analyzing EGFR mutations and detecting ALK gene fusion are indispensable when planning to treat pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a devastating complication of lung cancer and sometimes the only source for mutation analysis. The percentage of tumor cells in the pleural effusion may be low; therefore, mutant enrichment is required for a successful analysis. The EGFR mutation status in MPE was determined using three methods: (1) PCR sequencing of genomic DNA (direct sequencing), (2) mutantenriched PCR sequencing of genomic DNA using peptide nucleic acid (PNA-sequencing), and (3) PCR sequencing of cDNA after reverse transcription for cellular RNA (RNAsequencing). RT-PCR was also used to test cases for ALK gene fusion. PNA-sequencing and RNA-sequencing had similar analytical sensitivities (< 1%), which indicates similar enrichment capabilities. The clinical sensitivity in 133 cases when detecting the common EGFR exon 19 and exon 21 mutations was 56.4% (75/133) for direct sequencing, 63.2%(84/133) for PNA-sequencing, and 65.4%(87/133) for RNA-sequencing. RT-PCR and sequencing showed 5 cases (3.8%) with ALK gene fusion. All had wildtype EGFR. For EGFR analysis of MPE, RNA-sequencing is at least as sensitive as PNAsequencing but not limited to specific mutations. Detecting ALK fusion can be incorporated in the same RNA workflow. Therefore, RNA is a better source for comprehensive molecular diagnoses in MPE.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e0158125 |
Journal | PloS one |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 Jun |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- General