What happens when EGFR mutates?

EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) is a protein on cells that helps them grow. A mutation in the gene for EGFR can make it grow too much, which can cause cancer.

What is EGFR mutation?

EGFR stands for epidermal growth factor receptor. It’s a protein found on healthy cells. When cancer cells test positive for EGFR, it means the gene contains a mutation and is sending faulty instructions to the cells, allowing cancer to grow and spread.

Can EGFR mutation be cured?

Early-stage EGFR-mutant NSCLC can potentially be cured with surgery or radiation therapy, either with or without chemotherapy.

Can EGFR mutation change?

In conclusion, the change of EGFR mutation status after chemotherapy was found by many investigators. Influence of chemotherapy on EGFR mutation status may be one of the explanations for this phenomenon. Intratumoral heterogeneity also plays an important role in diversity of tumor EGFR mutation status.

What causes an EGFR mutation?

An EGFR mutation occurs when there is an error in the DNA that makes up the protein. These errors are also a type of biomarker. A biomarker is a biological molecule that can be an indicator of a certain condition or disease, according to the National Cancer Institute .

How are EGFR mutations detected?

In clinical practice, EGFR mutations are routinely detected using DNA extracted from primary or metastatic tumour tissue obtained during tumour biopsy or resection, which is typically formalin fixed and paraffin embedded (FFPE) (Ellison et al, 2013; Jung, 2013).

Is EGFR gene mutation hereditary?

In some lung cancer patients this gene, called “EGFR”, contains a DNA change known as an “inherited EGFR mutation”. Early data indicate that these inherited EGFR mutations may be associated with an increased risk of lung cancer. So far, only a small number of families have been found to carry inherited EGFR mutations.

What causes EGFR mutation?

How is EGFR mutation testing done?

Historically, the standard for EGFR mutation testing involved direct sequencing of DNA extracted from samples of tumour tissue gathered during biopsy or resection, usually in the form of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) diagnostic blocks.

Are you born with EGFR mutation?

“We explain that it was likely caused by a random mutation in a cell after they were born, although occasionally it can be a germline mutation that occurs in a sperm cell or an egg cell and is passed directly from a parent to a child at the time of conception,” she notes.