Association of metastatic pattern and molecular status in metastatic lung non-small cell lung cancer adenocarcinomas

Abstract

Abstract Background The recent identification of molecular alterations in some lung adenocarcinomas has led to the emergence of effective targeted therapies thus drastically improving their prognosis.The aim of our study was to investigate the association between driver oncogene alterations and metastatic patterns on imaging assessment, in a large cohort of metastatic lung adenocarcinoma patients. Methods From January 2010 to May 2017, 656 patients with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma with molecular analysis were studied retrospectively including 135 EGFR, 81 ALK, 47 BRAF, 141 KRAS, and 146 negative tumors for these 4 mutations (4N). After review of the complete imaging report by two radiologists (junior and senior) to identify metastatic sites, univariate correlation analyzes were performed. Results We found differences in metastatic tropism depending on the molecular alteration type when compared to the non-mutated 4N group: in the EGFR group, pleural metastases were more frequent (32% versus 20%; p = 0.021), and adrenal and node metastases less common (6% versus 23%; p Conclusions The application of these correlations between molecular status and metastatic tropism in clinical practice may lead to earlier and more accurate identification of patients for targeted therapy, savings in iterative biopsies, as well as improved and personalized imaging interpretation. Legal entity responsible for the study Alison Dormieux. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.