Histopathological samples are commonly used for molecular testing to detect both oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes in lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of using curette lavage fluid for molecular testing to detect EGFR, KRAS and P53 mutations in lung cancer patients. Samples were obtained from 77 lung cancer patients by bronchoscopy at the time of diagnosis, collected by scraping the site of the primary tumor lesion with a curette. DNA was extracted from cells in the curette lavage fluid, and PCRs were performed to amplify mutation hot spot regions in the EGFR, KRAS and P53 genes. The PCR products were direct-sequenced to detect mutations of each gene. The reference sequence of each gene was obtained from GenBank. Overall, 27% (21 of 77) were found with EGFR mutations, 1% (1 of 77) with KRAS mutations, and 36% (28 of 77) with P53 mutations. KRAS mutations were not detected in patients harboring mutations in either EGFR or P53. P53 mutations were identified in 38% (8 of 21) of the patients with EGFR mutations, all of who had advanced lung cancer. Of these patients, a 62-year-old female current smoker was given EGFR-TKI as third-line therapy, with no improvement in clinical symptoms or results of radiographic examination. Multivariate analysis indicated that P53 mutation rates in advanced-stage lung cancer were significantly higher than those in early-stage lung cancer (P=.017). In contrast, EGFR mutation rates were not significantly associated with staging. L747S in EGFR, described as a mutation associated with secondary resistance to EGFR-TKI, was detected in three patients who had never received EGFR-TKI, including one SCLC patient. It is possible to analyze EGFR, KRAS and P53 mutations using curette lavage fluid collected from lung cancer patients. This is useful when sufficient amounts of tumor samples cannot be obtained. Data from the current study suggest that EGFR mutations in concert with P53 mutations accelerate cancer development and lead to evolution of therapeutic resistance.
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