A BILATERAL SYNCHRONOUS PRIMARY NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER PATIENT WITH
TWO DIFFERENT EGFR MUTATIONS
Abstract
Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for the
majority of all lung cancer cases. Causes of NSCLC are typically
identified through molecular testing for EGFR and other mutations.
Around half of Asian patients with NSCLC, particularly non-smoking
women, have EGFR mutations. Most patients with ipsilateral NSCLC
typically have a single common EGFR mutation in exons 18-21. It is
extremely rare for patients with bilateral primary NSCLC to harbor two
different EGFR mutations. Case summary: We present a
70-year-old non-smoking Vietnamese patient diagnosed with early
bilateral primary NSCLC with the presence of EGFR in both exon 18 and
exon 19. The complexities of diagnosis and treatment for this case
resulted in surgical intervention on the left lung and targeted therapy
with afatinib for the right lung. Progression arrest was observered in a
period of 12 months. Conclusion: This case highlights a rare
instance of synchronous bilateral NSCLC in a non-smoking, 70-year-old
Vietnamese woman with complex management, underscoring the challenges of
treating synchronous primary tumors with different genetic profiles.