An early event of EGFR mutation in pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung.

Epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are effective in prolonging progression-free survival time of patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma, typically adenocarcinoma, bearing some active EGFR mutations in their tumors. However, the close relationship between the EGFR mutations and pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung, which is a very rare type of primary lung cancer, has never been elucidated. We present a 60-year-old Japanese woman with pleomorphic carcinoma of the lung that became resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapies including platinum-based chemotherapy, and her general condition seriously deteriorated.

Lung cancer screening--comparison of computed tomography and X-ray.

Recent studies on lung cancer screening with CT disclosed a discrepancy between its efficiency in detecting early lung cancer and a lack of proof for decreasing mortality from lung cancer. The present study, in a city in Japan where an X-ray screening program is provided, bi-annual CT screening was performed for X-ray screening negative subjects for 4 years. Ten patients with lung cancer were detected among 22,720 person-year subjects (0.