Frequencies of EGFR single nucleotide polymorphisms in non-small cell lung cancer patients and healthy individuals in the Republic of Serbia: a preliminary study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequencies of EGFR −216G>T, −191C>A, and 181946C>T in Serbian non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, as well as to compare it with healthy individuals, in order to assess their potential importance for lung cancer in Serbia. The study involved 56 NSCLC patients and 53 unrelated healthy volunteers, and genotyping was performed on DNA samples obtained from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded lung tumor tissue and blood, respectively. This was the first time to show genotype frequencies of those single nucleotide polymorphisms for this study group from the territory of the Republic of Serbia. There was very strong evidence of association between age and death due to lung cancer (Pearson chi-square = 43.439, df = 2, p < 0,001), as well as between ever smoking and death due to lung cancer (Pearson chi-square = 31.727, df = 1, p < 0.001). When dominant genetic model (GG vs. GT+TT) was used for −216G>T, we have found significant association (p = 0.012) between −216GG genotype and NSCLC patients within smokers’ subgroup. So, carriers of −216GG genotype had higher risk (OR = 4.33, 95 % CI = 1.324–14.179) than noncarriers (GT and TT) for developing non-small cell lung cancer in our patients.