EGFR and KRAS Mutations in Lung Parenchyma of Subjects With EGFR/KRAS Wild-Type Lung Adenocarcinoma.

The acquisition of driver mutations in non-tumoral cells appears to be very important during the carcinogenesis of adenocarcinoma (ADC). Recent studies suggest that cancer-related mutations may not necessarily be present only in malignant cells, but also in histologically "healthy cells". to demonstrate the presence of or mutations in non-tumoral lung cells in subjects with ADC and negative mutational status. mutations in or oncogenes were identified in the normal lung in 9.7% of the subjects. Exon 21 substitution L858R in was detected in two cases while the exon 19 deletion E746-A750 in the , the G12C and G12D substitutions in the were detected once. One patient presented three different mutations in the normal lung parenchyma (_L858R, _G12C and _G12D). The negative-mutation status of the tumor and the mutations detected in the "normal lung" were confirmed using highly sensitive and specific TaqMan PCR (CAST-PCR). No differences were found in terms of progression, progression-free survival or overall survival during the 18 months follow-up. These results confirm the presence of driver mutations in the histologically normal lung parenchyma cells in the absence of mutations coexisting with the primary tumor.