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. 2016 Oct 31;6:36177. doi: 10.1038/srep36177

Phenotype-genotype correlation in multiple primary lung cancer patients in China

Yang Yang 1,*, Wei Yin 2,*, Wenxin He 1,*, Chao Jiang 1, Xiao Zhou 1, Xiao Song 1, Junjie Zhu 1, Ke Fei 1, Weijun Cao 3,a, Gening Jiang 1,b
PMCID: PMC5087074  PMID: 27796337

Abstract

Due to recent advances in high-resolution detection technology, multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) is becoming an increasingly common diagnosis. However, the genotype-phenotype correlations in MPLC patients have not yet been assessed. In this study, we analyzed the clinical and pathological data for 129 consecutive MPLC patients who received curative surgery at the Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, China. We have screened 129 patients in the present study and found mutations in EGFR, BRAF, ROS1 and KRAS genes, as well as the rearrangement of the EML4-ALK gene in 113 patients. The mean patient age was 59.9 (25–78) years old and 41 patients were males (31.8%). Among the total patients, 123 (95.4%) had two primary lesions, 5 (3.9%) had three primary lesions, and 1 (0.8%) had four primary lesions. In 38.8% of the patients, all lesions were located on only one side of the body. Most of the detected mutations (98 patients) were in the EGFR gene. The patients exhibited significant differences in the EGFR mutation, age at diagnosis, and foci location.


Multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) refers to the synchronous or metachronous appearance of more than one primary lung cancer in a single patient. MPLC was first reported in 19241. In recent years, the rate of diagnosis worldwide has rapidly increased due to the improvement in radiological diagnostic procedures such as high-resolution multi-slice spiral computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET)2,3,4,5. However, preoperative diagnosis can be problematic because it is often difficult to differentiate MPLC from lung cancer metastasis based on radiological and histopathological criteria alone.

Identification of oncologic biomarkers by molecular genetic analysis may aid in the accurate diagnosis of MPLC. Potential oncologic biomarkers for analysis include allelic loss of heterozygosity (LOH) markers and specific gene mutations5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Recent advances in tumor molecular biology have resulted in the identification of several candidate markers such as P5313 and the EGFR gene14 that can be used for MPLC diagnosis. In addition, several genes have been confirmed to be driver genes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase (ALK), v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1 (AKT1), B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase (BRAF), v-erb-b2 avian erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2 (ERBB2), Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase, catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA)15,16,17,18,19,20. However, current knowledge of the molecular characteristics of MPLC is insufficient to allow for validation of the accuracy and sensitivity of molecular diagnosis. In this study, we screened for mutations in several oncogenic driver genes in a cohort of Chinese MPLC patients and analyzed the data to correlate our genetic findings with the clinical phenotypes.

Materials and Methods

Ethical approval

This study was conducted in accordance with the amended Declaration of Helsinki, and it was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, China. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants in this study. The methods were carried out in accordance with the approved guidelines.

Patients and specimen collection

From May 2011 to January 2015, 129 consecutive NSCLC patients with MLPC received surgical resection of their lung lesions at the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital. Post-operative histological analyses confirmed the presence of primary lung cancer in all patients. Fresh primary tumor tissues containing more than 50% tumor cells were collected from all patients during surgery and were used for subsequent gene mutation analyses.

Demographic and clinical data were collected from the patient notes and computer records, including age, gender, the tumor size and location, the TNM stage and the histological type.

Candidate gene mutation analysis

Genomic DNA and the total RNA were immediately extracted from fresh tissues using a commercial QIAamp DNA Tissue Kit and RNeasy Kit (Qiagen, Germany), respectively. Mutations in the EGFR, BRAF, ROS1 and KRAS genes as well as the rearrangement of EML4-ALK were detected with Amoy Diagnostics kits (Xiamen, China) utilizing proprietary real-time PCR technology to detect mutations in the target genes.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (Version 18.0, Chicago, IL). The Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA were used to detect associations between the clinical characteristics and studied genes. A P value of <0.05 was regarded as being significant.

Results

Demographic and Clinical characteristics

This cohort study included 41 male and 88 female patients,. The mean age was 59.9 (25–83) years old (Fig. 1). All the 5 youngest patients (<40 years) were females. A total of 299 foci were removed during the surgery. All lesions were detected simultaneously in each patient (Fig. 2). In total, 123 patients (95.35%) had two lesions, 5 patients (3.88%) had three lesions and 1 patient (0.78%) had four lesions. In 50 patients (38.8%), all the tumors were located on the same side. Most of the tumors were detected at an early stage, including 26 foci (8.70%) at the Tis stage (Fig. 3). Multiple lesions with an identical histological type were recorded in 88 patients, whereas multiple lesions with different histological types were detected in the other 41 patients.

Figure 1. The age distribution of the 129 MPLC patients analyzed.

Figure 1

Figure 2. CT scan images for two MPLC patients.

Figure 2

(A) Images of Patient I. Left, CT scan of upper right lobi pulmonis; and right, CT scan of lower right lobi pulmonis. (B) Images of Patient II. Left, CT scan of upper right lobi pulmonis; and right, CT scan of middle right lobi pulmonis.

Figure 3. The TNM stages profile of these MPLC patients.

Figure 3

Mutation spectrum

Mutations in the EGFR, KRAS, BRAF and ROS1 genes and the rearrangement of EML4-ALK were detected in 113 patients (87.6%). Most of the patients (98) had EGFR mutations. No mutations were detected in 8 (19.5%) male and 8 (9.1%) female patients, and mutations in two genes were identified in 10 patients (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4). A total of 12 subtypes of EGFR gene mutations were identified, including 6 types of complicated mutations. Complicated mutations (L858R/S768I, L858R/20ins, G719X/T790M, 19del/T790M, 19del/L858R and 19del/20ins) were only found in female patients, whereas the mutation spectrum of the male patients was relatively simple. Only exon 19del and L858R mutations were detected in the male patients (Tables 5 and 6).

Table 1. The distribution of gene mutations among 129 patients.

  Male   Female  
EGFR 24 58.54% 64 72.73%
KRAS 7 17.07% 3 3.41%
BRAF 0 0.00% 3 3.41%
ROS1 0 0.00% 1 1.14%
EML4-ALK 1 2.44% 0 0.00%
EGFR + KRAS 1 2.44% 2 2.27%
EGFR + EML4-ALK 0 0.00% 6 6.82%
EGFR + ROS1 0 0.00% 1 1.14%
No mutation in the above genes 8 19.51% 8 9.09%

Table 2. Details of somatic mutations in EGFR, BRAF and KRAS genes analyzed in this study.

Gene Mutation Exon Base Change
EGFR
  G719A 18 2156G > C
  G719S 18 2155G > A
  G719C 18 2155G > T
  E746_A750del (1) 19 2235_2249del15
  E746_A750del (2) 19 2236_2250del15
  L747_P753 > S 19 2240_2257del18
  E746_T751 > I 19 2235_2252 > AAT(complex)
  E746_T751del 19 2236_2253del18
  E746_T751 > A 19 2237_2251del15
  E746_S752 > A 19 2237_2254del18
  E746_S752 > V 19 2237_2250 > T(complex)
  E746_S752 > D 19 2238_2255del18
  L747_A750 > P 19 2238_2248 > GC(complex)
  L747_T751 > Q 19 2238_2252 > GCA(complex)
  L747_E749del 19 2239_2247del9
  L747_T751del 19 2239_2253del15
  L747_S752del 19 2239_2256del18
  L747_A750 > P 19 2239_2248TTAAGAGAAG > C (complex)
  L747_P753 > Q 19 2239_2258 > CA (complex)
  L747_T751 > S 19 2240_2251del12
  L747_T751del 19 2240_2254del15
  L747_T751 > P 19 2239_2251 > C (complex)
  T790M 20 2369C > T
  S768I 20 2303G > T
  H773_V774insH 20 2319_2320insCAC
  D770_N771insG 20 2310_2311insGGT
  V769_D770insASV 20 2307_2308insgccagcgtg
  L858R 21 2573T > G
  L861Q 21 2582T > A
KRAS
  Gly12Asp   GGT > GA T
  Gly12Ala   GGT > GCT
  Gly12Val   GGT > GTT
  Gly12Ser   GGT > AGT
  Gly12Arg   GGT > CGT
  Gly12Cys   GGT > TGT
  Gly13Asp   GGC > GAC
BRAF
  V600E 15 1799T > A

Table 3. EML4-ALK fusions detected in this study.

Alternate name EML4 spliced exon Breakpoint variety (bp)* ALK spliced exon
EML4-ALK variant 1 13 −/−/ins69/−/−/− 20
EML4-ALK variant 3a/b 6 −/−/ins33/− 20
EML4-ALK variant 2 20 −/−/ins18/− 20
EML4-ALK variant 4 15 del71 20
EML4-ALK variant 4′ 14 ins11del49/del12/del36 20
EML4-ALK variant 5′ 18 20
EML4-ALK variant 5a/b 2 −/ins117 20
/ 17 ins68 20

*Differing breakpoints result in different cDNA isoforms: ins indicates insertion, and del indicates deletion.

Table 4. ROS1 gene fusions detected in this study.

Alternate name Fused gene ROS1 spliced sites
ROS1-1 SLC34A2 exon 4 ROS1 exon 32
SLC34A2 exon 4 ROS1 exon 34
ROS1-2 SLC34A2 exon 13 ROS1 exon 32
SLC34A2 exon 13 ROS1 exon 34
ROS1-3 CD74 exon 6 ROS1 exon 32
CD74 exon 6 ROS1 exon 34
ROS1-4 SDC exon 2 ROS1 exon 32
SDC exon 2 ROS1 exon 34
ROS1-5 SDC exon 4 ROS1 exon 32
SDC exon 4 ROS1 exon 34
EZR exon 10 ROS1 exon 34
ROS1-6 TPM3 exon 8 ROS1 exon 35
LRIG3 exon 16 ROS1 exon 35
ROS17 FIG exon 8 ROS1 exon 35
FIG exon 4 ROS1 exon 36

Table 5. The clinicopathological characteristics of the male MPLC patients.

  19del + L858R 19del + WT L858R L858R + WT WT
Age
 <30 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
 <40 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
 <50 20.00% 33.33% 0.00% 0.00% 12.50%
 <60 20.00% 33.33% 40.00% 57.14% 25.00%
 <70 40.00% 33.33% 40.00% 42.86% 37.50%
 <80 0.00% 0.00% 10.00% 0.00% 25.00%
 >80 20.00% 0.00% 10.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Site
 Left 60.00% 33.33% 35.00% 42.86% 50.00%
 Right 40.00% 66.67% 65.00% 57.14% 50.00%
Pathology
 Lung adenocarcinoma 90.00% 66.67% 95.00% 85.71% 81.25%
 Squamous carcinoma 10.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 15.63%
 Large cell carcinoma 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 7.14% 3.13%
 Atypical hyperplasia of adenoma 0.00% 33.33% 5.00% 7.14% 0.00%
TNM stage
 Tis 0.00% 0.00% 5.00% 14.29% 9.38%
 Ia 70.00% 16.67% 60.00% 50.00% 53.13%
 Ib 30.00% 83.33% 25.00% 35.71% 34.38%
 IIb 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 3.13%
 IIIa 0.00% 0.00% 10.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Table 6. The clinicopathological characteristics of the female MPLC patients.

  19del 19del + L858R 19del + rare mutation 19del + WT L858R + rare mutation L858R L858R + WT G719X 20ins + WT WT
Age
 <30 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 8.33% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
 <40 0.00% 0.00% 33.33% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 10.53%
 <50 0.00% 0.00% 33.33% 9.09% 0.00% 0.00% 16.67% 0.00% 0.00% 31.58%
 <60 50.00% 25.00% 0.00% 36.36% 50.00% 23.08% 25.00% 100.00% 100.00% 42.11%
 <70 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% 45.45% 33.33% 53.85% 41.67% 0.00% 0.00% 15.79%
 <80 0.00% 25.00% 33.33% 9.09% 16.67% 23.08% 8.33% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Site
 Left 33.33% 15.79% 50.00% 43.48% 43.75% 38.46% 42.31% 0.00% 0.00% 48.72%
 Right 66.67% 84.21% 50.00% 56.52% 56.25% 61.54% 57.69% 100.00% 100.00% 51.28%
Pathology
 Adenocarcinoma 100.00% 100.00% 83.33% 78.26% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 89.74%
 Squamous carcinoma 0.00% 0.00% 16.67% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
 Atypical hyperplasia of adenoma 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 21.74% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 10.26%
TNM stage
 Tis 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 9.09% 0.00% 7.69% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 15.79%
 Ia 66.67% 75.00% 66.67% 54.55% 83.33% 23.08% 91.67% 100.00% 100.00% 68.42%
 Ib 33.33% 25.00% 33.33% 27.27% 0.00% 46.15% 8.33% 0.00% 0.00% 15.79%
 Ia + Ib 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 9.09% 16.67% 23.08% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Phenotype-genotype correlation in MPLC patients

After determining the MPLC patient genotypes, we analyzed the phenotype-genotype correlations among these individuals. Significant differences were detected between the presence of EGFR mutations and the age at diagnosis and foci location (Table 7). Rare EGFR mutations (G719X, S768I, T790M and L861Q) were detected in 18 female patients. These rare mutations were accompanied by common mutations (L858R, exon 19del and exon 20ins) in multiple lesions. Among the lesions with L858R and a rare mutation, 6.25% were mucinous adenocarcinomas, whereas 62.5% were invasive adenocarcinomas. Further, 31.25% of these lesions were located in left upper lobe. Notably, none of the young patients had these rare mutations.

Table 7. Correlation between EGFR mutations and clinicopathological features.

  EGFR mutation
P value
Positive Negative
Gender     0.2035
 Male 25 16  
 Female 69 19  
Age     0.0236
 <60 46 22  
 ≥60 48 13  
Location     0.0456
 Left 73 35  
 Right 109 36  
Pathology     0.2781
 Adenocarcinoma 170 66  
 Squamous carcinoma 2 0  
 Large cell carcinoma 9 4  
 Atypical hyperplasia of adenoma 1 1  
TNM stage     0.0869
 <Ib 112 52  
 ≥Ib 70 18  

Discussion

The etiology of MPLC remains unclear. At present, the field cancerization theory is the most common explanation12. The accurate preoperative diagnosis of MPLC can be problematic. Hitherto, differentiating between MPLC and lung metastases in patient with multi-focal lung cancer has mainly depended on morphological methods. The diagnostic criteria for MPLC recommended by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) are as follows: (1) the presence of anatomically separated tumors with the same histology, with the cancers in different lobes, no N2 or N3 involvement, and no systemic metastases; (2) the presence of temporally separated tumors with the same histology, with a 4-yr interval between cancers and no systemic metastases from any of the cancers; and (3) the presence of tumors with different histologies, including tumors with different histologic types and different molecular genetic characteristics or tumors arising separately from in situ carcinoma foci21,22,23.

In spite of these difficulties, it remains critical to distinguish between primary and metastatic lung cancer because the long-term survival of these two types of cancer is significantly different. Metastatic lung cancers, especially in patients with multiple metastases, should not be resected as the prognosis is extremely poor. On the other hand, most MPLC patients have separate lesions that are each individually at an early stage. The 5-year survival rate for synchronous MPLC after curative surgery could be as high as 75.8%24. Therefore, the proper diagnsis of MPLC is key to the appropriate treatment of patients.

Molecular genetic diagnosis was introduced into the diagnostic criteria for ACCP in 2013; however, the lack of effective molecular markers has limited its clinical application in practice. Hence, there is a pressing need for comprehensive phenotypic and genotypic analyses of MPLC patients.

Multiple factors can contribute to the development of MPLC, including genetic factors, smoking and exposure to environmental pollutants. Previous studies3 have shown that MPLC is more common in 50- to 70-year-old male smokers; most tumors in these patients have been reported to be squamous carcinoma-squamous carcinoma, squamous carcinoma-adenocarcinoma or adenocarcinoma-adenocarcinoma. In contrast with these data, our findings suggests that MPLC is more common in females, although they confirm that 50- to 70-year-old patients represent the highest-risk age group.

In our study, we screened for mutations in the EGFR, BRAF, ROS1 and KRAS genes, as well as the rearrangement of the EML4-ALK gene.

Since the direct sequencing of nucleotides is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process25,26, we used a real-time PCR-based method to analyze these mutations. Both previous studies and our experience suggested that a real-time PCR-based method would detect the mutations of interest with the same efficiency as direct sequencing27,28,29,30. Only 13.95% of the patients screened were found to be free from any mutations in the genes analyzed in the present study. The frequency of EGFR gene mutations (76.1% in the female patients and 61.0% in the male patients) was higher in our study than that reported in Chinese lung cancer patients with a single focus31,32. Furthermore, only 30 (32.6%) of the MPLC patients had identical gene mutations. These data suggest that more than half of second primary lung cancers result from different mechanisms compared with primary cancers. In addition, a previous study indicated that the risk of second primary lung cancers in patients treated with surgical resection for stage I NSCLC is 1.99 per 100 patient-years33. Based on these results, we conclude that each MPLC lesion should be independently diagnosed and treated by surgical resection.

Our results suggested that rare mutations in the EGFR gene contributed significantly to the diversity of mutations detected in female patients. Although these data provide evidence of genotype-phenotype correlations in MPLC patients, further study involving more patients will be needed to confirm these conclusions.

Additional Information

How to cite this article: Yang, Y. et al. Phenotype-genotype correlation in multiple primary lung cancer patients in China. Sci. Rep. 6, 36177; doi: 10.1038/srep36177 (2016).

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Scientific Foundation of China (81370107; 81501750; 81602412) and Scientific research project of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning (2016Y0121). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Footnotes

Author Contributions Y.Y., W.C., W.H., W.Y., K.F. and G.J. designed the study. Y.Y., W.C., W.H., W.Y., C.J., X.Z., X.S. and J.Z. performed the study and analyzed the data. Y.Y., W.Y., W.C., K.F. and G.J. wrote the main manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript. W.C. and G.J. approved the manuscript.

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