TERT Mutation was Associated with the Risk of Recurrence in Lung Adenocarcinoma with A Micropapillary Pattern

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p><jats:bold>Background:</jats:bold><jats:italic> </jats:italic>Lung adenocarcinoma with a micropapillary pattern (MPPAC) is the histological subtype of lung cancer. It has attracted increasing attention, especially regarding its association with poor prognosis, including the predisposition towards recurrence and metastasis. Although MPPAC has been described in early-stage cases, only a few studies have reported the correlation between disease-specific prognosis and gene mutation of MPPAC. This study aimed to clarify the common genetic mutations and the prognostic characteristics in MPPAC patients.<jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold><jats:italic> </jats:italic>A total of 17 patients whose surgical pathology was defined as MPPAC were followed up, the molecular characteristics were elucidated by next-generation sequencing, and the prognostic characteristics were analyzed. <jats:bold>Results: </jats:bold>Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations were identified in 11/17 (65%) of patients. TP53 alterations were identified in 10/17 (59%). Other common mutations include ATM (18%), KRAS (18%), SDHA (18%), and TERT (18%). MPPAC patients harboring EGFR and TERT mutations were at a high risk of tumor recurrence, while TP53 might be associated with a low risk of recurrence. <jats:bold>Conclusions:</jats:bold><jats:italic> </jats:italic>TERT mutation was more frequently harbored in MPPAC patients than in the other histological type of lung cancer, and such patients were at a high risk of recurrence. So TERT mutation might be associated with adverse prognosis in MPPAC patients.</jats:p>