Hence, metastases specimens could be used for mutation assessment if the specimen for primary tumors is lacking, but the detection methods AZD8931 mouse must be of high sensitivity. Recently, the abundance of selleck products mutations of predictive biomarkers, such as EGFR and KRAS, has drawn more attention [16–18]. It has been shown that the abundance of EGFR mutations

predicts benefit from EGFR-TKI treatment for NSCLC [16]. Similarly, colorectal cancer patients with low abundance of KRAS mutation have been reported to benefit from EGFR antibody therapy [17]. Precise quantification of EGFR mutation abundance may become a trend in clinic to help with a better patient selection and better treatment strategies. To enable precise quantification of mutation ratio, real time PCR with https://www.selleckchem.com/products/Acadesine.html a standard curve such as the method applied in this report

serves as one of the optimal options. In this study, only subjects with EGFR mutations in primary tumors were included, but it did not address the issues of positive mutation detection in metastases but negative in primary sites. Future studies should combine the prognosis data of the patients that received TKIs therapy and analyze the correlation between the quantitative measurement of EGFR mutations in primary and metastatic tumors and their response to TKIs, especially those with inconsistent measurement of EGFR mutation status in those sites. These studies could provide guidance for doctors to make informed decision in NSCLC treatment. Conclusions Randomly chosen sample may reliably represent the type and ratio of EGFR mutations in primary tumors. EGFR mutation ratios in primary and metastatic tumors are different. If metastatic tumors are used for EGFR mutation detection,

the sensitivity of the detection assay must be taken into consideration. Acknowledgement This work was supported by a Research Plan of Medical Science and Technology Project of Henan Province (No. 201204105) (to JM). References 1. Paez JG, Janne PA, Lee JC, Tracy S, Greulich H, Gabriel S, Herman P, Kaye FJ, Lindeman N, Boggon TJ, et al.: EGFR mutations in lung cancer: correlation with clinical response to gefitinib therapy. Science (New York, NY) 2004, 304:1497–1500.CrossRef isothipendyl 2. Lynch TJ, Bell DW, Sordella R, Gurubhagavatula S, Okimoto RA, Brannigan BW, Harris PL, Haserlat SM, Supko JG, Haluska FG, et al.: Activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor underlying responsiveness of non-small-cell lung cancer to gefitinib. N Engl J Med 2004, 350:2129–2139.PubMedCrossRef 3. Mok TS, Wu YL, Thongprasert S, Yang CH, Chu DT, Saijo N, Sunpaweravong P, Han B, Margono B, Ichinose Y, et al.: Gefitinib or carboplatin-paclitaxel in pulmonary adenocarcinoma. N Engl J Med 2009, 361:947–957.PubMedCrossRef 4.