Abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of targeted treatment for pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC) by investigating track record of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in PMEC. METHODS: From January 2001 to December 2009, 20 PMEC patients (11 males and 9 females) received treatment in our center. All the patients received surgery and were diagnosed by pathology. Sequencing analysis was used to monitor exons 18-21 of the EGFR gene mutation. RESULTS: The exon 21 L861Q heterozygous mutation was confirmed in five patients. There was no case with any deletion in exon 19 or exon 21 L858R mutation. One case was with a homonymy exon 18 mutation (I760I). Exon 20 G2607A (Q787Q) SNP was found in 12 of those 20 patients. CONCLUSION: L861Q mutation in exon 21 is the most frequent feature of heterozygous mutation in our study. Further investigations will be required to validate our findings.