Korean J Med.  2013 Mar;84(3):446-451. 10.3904/kjm.2013.84.3.446.

Gefitinib Treatment for Pulmonary Sarcomatoid Carcinoma Driven by an EGFR Mutation: Two Cases

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. shlee119@snu.ac.kr

Abstract

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung is defined as a group of poorly differentiated non-small cell carcinomas that contain a component of sarcoma or a sarcoma-like element. Most sarcomatoid carcinomas are known to have a poor prognosis. We describe a 45-year-old female never smoker and 49-year-old female never smoker with sarcomatoid carcinomas of the lung that expressed a specific EGFR mutation: microdeletion of exon 19. Their cancers progressed rapidly, despite appropriate conventional chemotherapy. After they took the EGFR-targeted agent gefitinib, there was a dramatic reduction in tumor size. Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung is a rare cancer whose pathogenesis is not well understood. According to these cases, the EGFR mutation could be a driver mutation and the potential therapeutic target of EGFR-targeted agents for sarcomatoid carcinoma in lung cancer patients, especially never smokers.

Keyword

Spindle cell carcinoma; Lung neoplasms; EGFR genes; Gefitinib

MeSH Terms

Exons
Female
Genes, erbB-1
Humans
Lung
Lung Neoplasms
Prognosis
Quinazolines
Sarcoma
Quinazolines
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