Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) High Gene Copy Number and Activating Mutations in Lung Adenocarcinomas Are Not Consistently Accompanied by Positivity for EGFR Protein by Standard Immunohistochemistry

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether detectable protein biomarker overexpression is a prerequisite for the presence of increased gene copy number or activating mutations and responsiveness to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib in patients with lung adenocarcinomas. EGFR status was prospectively analyzed in tumor biopsy samples by three methods: protein expression (n = 117) by standardized immunohistochemistry (IHC), gene copy number (n = 97) by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), and mutation analysis by sequencing (n = 126). Fifty-nine percent of the samples were positive by IHC, 40% were positive by FISH, and 13.5% contained activating kinase domain mutations. Thirty-four percent of the FISH-positive and 27% of the mutant samples were also IHC-negative. All EGFR mutant patients had major clinical responses (five complete response and five partial response) to gefitinib or erlotinib treatment, although three of these tumors were IHC-negative and four were FISH-negative. In a retrospective analysis of samples from nine patients with excellent therapeutic responses (three complete response, five partial response, one stable disease) to erlotinib or gefitinib, mutations were identified in eight cases, but IHC was negative in four of these tumors. These results indicate that molecular diagnostic methods appear to be most important for the identification of lung adenocarcinoma patients who may benefit from EGFR inhibitor treatments

BOOSTER: Development of a toolbox for triage of large groups of individuals exposed to radioactive material

International audienceThe effective management of an event involving the exposure of a large number of people to radioactive material requires a mechanism for fast triage of exposed people. BOOSTER is a project founded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme, addressing this requirement. It is a capability project designed to provide an integrated system which could easily be deployed and used. For this purpose, the BOOSTER consortium, relying on the expertise of seven members, researches and develops new approaches to allow an effective and fast management of most kind of nuclear threats. BOOSTER System was designed to help first responders mitigate the crisis by providing the necessary information to quickly assess the radiological situation, to support triage staff in performing an efficient and fast categorization of the potentially affected victims, and to give medical staff crucial information for further treatment at medium or long term post-accident