Introduction: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and anti-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) agents are highly effective for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients harbouring specific alterations, and molecular characterisation of the tumour is needed even when limited tumour material is available.
Methods: 20 patients with a known epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene status were enrolled: 10 had mutated and 10 had wild type tumours. FISH analysis was performed on one cytological or histological sample to determine EML4-ALK status, after which the same cells scraped off each slide were used to evaluate the EGFR status.
Results: In the 10 EGFR mutated patients, molecular analysis showed the same results as those obtained before the FISH test. One patient with an EGFR mutation also showed an EML4-ALK translocation, and both FISH-positive and FISH-negative cells maintained the EGFR mutation.
Conclusions: EGFR mutation analysis can be performed on the same sample previously submitted to the EML4-ALK FISH procedure.
Keywords: EGFR; LUNG CANCER; MOLECULAR ONCOLOGY.