Clincal Significance Of The Detection Of K-ras Oncogene Mutations In Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid From Patients With Lung Cancer

Objective In this study, we tried to detect the mutations of K-ras oncogene in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in order to find its value for early diagnosis and prognosis assessment of lung cancer. Method 44 samples of BALF and 32 biopsy specimens from patients with lung cancer, as well as 24 samples from benign pulmonary diseases were detected for K-ras codon 12 mutations by using polymerase chain reaction plus restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Result K-ras mutation rate in patients with lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases were 32.9% (25/76) and 4.3% (1/23) respectively. No statistical difference of K-ras mutation was found between specimens of BALF and tumor tissues.The mutation rate was much higher in NSCLC than in SCLC cases, among which the rate of lung adenocarcinoma .was highest (52.0%). Mutation was also related to age~ history of smoking, but not to sex.. stages of TNM classification. The lower the histologic grade, the higher the rate of K-ras mutation. Conclusion (1) Detection of K-ras oncogene mutation in BALF might to be useful in early diagnosis of lung cancer, which improves the diagnostic yields of fiberbronchoscopy of peripheral lung cancer, especially in patients with adenocarcinoma. (2) Smoking may contribute to the mutation of K-ras oncogene. (3) K-ras oncogene mutation may be a promising molecular prognostic indicator in patients with lung cancer, and those with ras mutations may have poorer prognostic outcome. Postgraduate: Chen Rui (Respiratory medicine) Directed by: Hu Llua-.cheng (professor)...