E. Nakajima et al., K-ras mutation in sputum of primary lung cancer patients does not always reflect that of cancerous cells, INT J ONCOL, 18(1), 2001, pp. 105-110
K-ras mutation in sputum was examined using mutant-allele-specific amplific
ation method among 100 primary lung cancer and 15 non-oncological patients.
K-ras mutation was detected in 11 out of 59 adenocarcinoma cases (18.6%),
5 out of 32 squamous cell carcinoma cases (15.6%), 2 out of 4 large cell ca
rcinoma cases (50.0%) and 3 out of 15 non-oncological disease cases (20.0%)
. In the 18 cases of primary lung cancer K-ras mutation was examined in bot
h sputum and the resected specimen of the primary lesion. In 5 cases K-ras
mutation in sputum was detected without K-ras mutation in primary lesion. T
herefore, these findings suggested that K-ras mutation in sputum may not be
directly related to that of the primary lesion.