Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations and the Clinical Outcome in Male Smokers with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Lung

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been reported to be related to certain clinical characteristics (i.e., female, non-smokers with adenocarcinoma) and gefitinib responsiveness. This exploratory analysis was performed to determine the incidence of EGFR mutations in male smokers with squamous cell carcinoma, who were treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, gefitinib. Sixty-nine Korean NSCLC patients were treated with gefitinib in a prospective study. For a subset of 20 male patients with squamous cell carcinoma and a history of smoking, pretreatment tumor tissue samples were obtained and analyzed for EGFR mutations (exons 18 to 21). EGFR mutations were found in 3 (15%) patients, including in-frame deletions within exon 19 (n=2) and L858R missence mutation in exon 21 (n=1). These 3 patients with EGFR mutations responded to gefitinib, whereas only one of remaining 17 patients with wild-type EGFR achieved clinical response. Trend toward longer progression-free (5.8 vs. 2.4 months; P=0.07) was noted in patients with EGFR mutations compared to those with wild-type EGFR. Although male smokers with squamous cell carcinoma have not been considered ideal candidates for gefitinib treatment, significant incidence of EGFR mutations was observed. The molecular markers should be considered to predict clinical benefits from gefitinib

Flaw Classification Algorithm for Heat Exchanger Tubes Using a Bobbin-Type Magnetic Camera

This paper presents an algorithm that estimates the presence, location, shape, and depth of flaws using a bobbin-type magnetic camera consisting of bobbin probes and a bobbin-type integrated giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensor array (BIGiS). The presence of the flaws is determined by the lobe path of the Lissajous curves obtained from bobbin coil with respect to the applied frequency. The location of the flaw, i.e., whether it is an inner diameter (ID) or outer diameter (OD) flaw, can be determined from the rotational direction of the lobe with respect to the frequency change. The shape of the flaw is then determined from the area of the lobe and the BIGiS image. At this stage, multi-site damage can be determined from the BIGiS image. The effectiveness of the flaw classification algorithm was evaluated using various types of artificial flaws introduced into small-bore tube test specimens made of austenitic stainless steel