Updated incidence of EGFR mutation in Middle Eastern patients with non-small cell lung cancer: a 7-year study in a Lebanese institution

This study aims to update the mutational status of EGFR in non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC), to analyze the spectrum of mutations found, and describe rare mutations in the Lebanese population. In this retrospective study, patients diagnosed with NSCLC between 2016 and 2023 who underwent EGFR mutation testing were included. EGFR mutations from 2016 to 2019 were analyzed using real-time PCR on the Rotor-Gene Q platform, while those from 2019 to 2023 were analyzed using real-time PCR with the Idylla system. 332 patients of which 211 (63.3%) men and 121 (36.7%) women were included. Mean age was 65.7 years. Adenocarcinoma was the main histological subtype. Additionally, 16.3% of patients had an EGFR mutation: 50% had a deletion on exon 19, 37% an L858R mutation, 4% a G719/C/S mutation, 4% a T790M mutation alone, 2% an L861Q mutation alone, and 2% a S768I mutation alone. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.0285) was found between the positivity rates of the two EGFR mutation detection techniques, favoring the Idylla technique. We confirmed the variation in the incidence of EGFR mutated NSCLC between Lebanon and the region. Mutational frequencies remain similar, with the highest frequencies being for exon 19 and 21 mutations.