Rapid and Highly Sensitive EGFRdelEx19 and KRAS Exon 2 Mutation Detection in EBUS-TBNA Specimen of Lymph Node Metastases From Patients With Lung Adenocarcinoma

First-line treatment with afatinib prolongs overall survival in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR exon 19 deletion mutations. Conversely, somatic KRAS mutations are negative predictors for benefit from EGFR-targeting agents. Rapid availability of these biomarker results is mandatory to prevent delayed or inferior treatments.

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is well-established for lung cancer diagnosis and staging. Next generation sequencing (NGS) via targeted resequencing allows simultaneous interrogation for multiple mutations, but has its limitations based on the amount of tumor tissue required and assay times. RT-PCR using Light-Cycler technology (LC-RTPCR) is a rapid and sensitive assay to detect somatic mutations in various tissues from NSCLC patients. The study's aim was to analyze if LC-RTPCR is feasible for rapid EGFRdelEx19 and KRAS Exon 2 mutation detection in EBUS-TBNA samples and to compare results with results obtained via standard NGS mutation analyses.