Clinical Implication of EGF A61G Polymorphism in the Risk of Non Small Cell Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients: A Case Control Study

Background: The epidermal growth factor (EGF) plays important roles in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) susceptibility and functional polymorphism in the EGF (+61A/G) gene has been linked to increased risk of NSCLC. This study aimed to evaluate the role of the EGF +61A/G polymorphism in risk of NSCLC adenocarcinoma (ADC) occurrence and survival in an Indian population. Materials and
Methods: This casecontrol study included 100 histopathologically confirmed NSCLC (ADC) patients and 100 healthy controls. EGF (A61G) was genotyped by AS–PCR to elucidate putative associations with clinical outcomes. The association of the polymorphism with the survival of NSCLC patients was estimated by Kaplan–Meier curves.
Results: It was found that EGF 61AG heterozygous and GG homozygous genotype is significantly associated with increased risk of NSCLC (ADC) occurrence compared to AA genotype, [OR 2.61 (1.31-5.18) and 3.25 (1.31-8.06), RR 1.51(1.15-2.0) and 1.72 (1.08-2.73) and RD 23.2 (6.90-39.5) and 28.53(7.0-50.1) for heterozygous AG (p=0.005) and homozygous GG (p=0.009)]. Patients homozygous for the G allele exhibited a significantly poor overall survival. The median survival time for patients with EGF 61 AA, AG, and GG genotypes was 10.5, 7.4, and 7.1 months (p=0.02), respectively. NSCLC (ADC) patients with GG + AG exhibited 7.3 months median survival compared to the AA genotype (p=0.009).
Conclusions: The present study revealed that the EGF A61G genotype may be a novel independent prognostic marker to identify patients at higher risk of occurrence and an unfavourable clinical outcome.