Genetic variations of rs6928 and rs5999521 of ERK2 were found to have correlation with the risk of brain metastasis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma

Background: Patients with lung adenocarcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations have a high risk of brain metastasis (BM). Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is an important mediator of EGFR/c-MET crosstalk, which is involved in development of BM in non-small cell lung cancer. Here, we investigated the association of MAPK genetic variations with the risk of BM in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed lung adenocarcinoma from two Hospitals (n=120, discovery cohort; n=213, validation cohort) were enrolled. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was employed for BM follow-up after the completion of planned therapy. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of MAPK pathway genes were tested with blood samples.

Results: After adjustment for sex, age, staging, smoking status, surgery, and thoracic radiotherapy, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) rs6928 and rs5999521 SNPs were found to be associated with increased risk of BM. The rs6928 GG and CG genotypes were associated with 2.033-fold (P=0.033) and 1.910-fold (P=0.012) increases in the risk of developing BM compared with the CC genotype. For rs5999521, the risk of developing BM was increased by 1.993-fold (P=0.037) in patients with the GG genotype and 1.834-fold (P=0.019) in patients with the AG genotype compared with patients with the AA genotype. Furthermore, patients with genotypes of higher risk of BM showed higher EGFR mutation rates and tended to have >1 BM lesions.

Conclusions: In patients with lung adenocarcinoma, ERK2 rs6928 and rs5999521 SNPs contributed to BM risk, particularly in patients with specific genotypes.