Author of

• 11454

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  P2.01 - Poster Session 2 - Cancer Biology (ID 145)

  • Event: WCLC 2013
  • Type: Poster Session
  • Track: Biology
  • Presentations: 1
  • Moderators:
  • Coordinates: 10/29/2013, 09:30 - 16:30, Exhibit Hall, Ground Level

  • 11471

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    P2.01-017 - Gene expression of MAGE-A3 tumor antigen and EGFR mutational status in Chinese NSCLC patients (ID 2781)

    09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): J. Louahed
    • Abstract

    Background
    The MAGE-A3 tumor antigen is expressed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and is a potential target for cancer immunotherapy. NSCLC patients may also have specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations, which are responsible for sensitivity to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) in metastatic NSCLC patients. In Asian populations, a relatively low MAGE-A3 expression (Therasse et al. ASCO 2012) and a relatively high frequency of EGFR mutations (An et al. 2012) have been reported compared to Caucasian populations. Three phase III studies, one with MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapeutic and two with EGFR-TKIs, are ongoing in patients with early-stage, resected NSCLC. However, to date, a direct association between MAGE-A3 expression pattern and EGFR mutational status has not been investigated. Here, we evaluate a potential link between MAGE-A3 expression and frequency of EGFR mutations in Chinese NSCLC patients.

    Methods
    This single-center, non-interventional, retrospective study was conducted at Guandong Lung Cancer Institute, China. Adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) fresh frozen (FF) stage IB, II or IIIA NSCLC tumor samples were collected. MAGE-A3 transcript levels were determined using quantitative real-time PCR. The presence of EGFR mutations was detected using bidirectional Sanger sequencing on genomic DNA extracted from the same FF tumor samples.

    Results
    MAGE-A3 was expressed in 15.6% of adenocarcinoma (N=96) and 31.6% of SCC (N=95) samples. EGFR mutations were found in 43.8% of adenocarcinoma and 5.3% of SCC samples. MAGE-A3 expression rates and EGFR mutational status are shown (table). Figure 1

    Conclusion
    In this study, mutated EGFR status was observed in more than half of MAGE-A3-positive adenocarcinoma samples. However, due to a small number of samples analyzed, no statistical association could be concluded. Additional larger studies, especially in Asian patients with adenocarcinoma, are needed to confirm the findings. This study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA.