To observe the mutation rate of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its relationship with the clinical pathology and tyrosinase inhibitor (TKI)-targeted therapy effect.

A total of 100 NSCLC patients treated in our hospital from May 2014 to August 2016 were selected for this study. The mutations of EGFR gene 18-21 exons were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-direct sequencing. The mutation features and the relationship between EGFR mutations and the clinical pathology were analyzed. The efficacies of the mutant type and the wild type of EGFI treated with TKI-targeted therapy and their 1-year survival rate and 2-year survival rate were compared.

EGFR mutations occurred in 44 cases, with the EGFR mutation rate of 44% among the 100 NSCLC patients. The features of the EGFR mutation rate in NSCLC patients were that females had a higher risk than males, smokers had a higher risk than non-smokers, and the patients with adenocarcinoma had a higher risk than those without adenocarcinoma (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the gender of female and the pathological type of adenocarcinoma were independent risk factors for EGFR mutation in the NSCLC patients (P<0.05). EGFR mutation types included point mutation of exon 18 in 2 cases (4.54%), deletion mutation of exon 19 in 19 cases (43.19%), insertion mutation and point mutation of exon 20 in 5 cases (11.36%), and point mutation of exon 21 in 18 cases (40.91%). The effective rate of TKI treatment in the EGFR mutant patients was significantly higher than that in the EGFR wild type patients (68.18% vs 10.71%, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the EGFR mutant type and wild type about 1-year and 2-year survival rates (P>0.05).

Gender and pathological type are independent risk factors for EGFR mutations in the NSCLC patients. TKI-targeted therapy has better effect in the EGFR mutant patients, but there is no significant difference in the 2-year survival rate compared with EGFR wild type patients.