Objective  To detect eight highly related driver genes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to analyze the relationship between gene variations and clinical-pathological features.

  Methods  We collected 212 NSCLC samples from Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, and sequenced eight genes which are EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, ALK, MET, ERBB2, ROS1 and RET.

  Results  EGFR gene variation rate was as high as 52.8%, followed by KRAS (8.5%), ALK (8.0%), ERBB2 (6.1%), MET (3.8%), BRAF (1.4%), RET (0.9%) and ROS1 (0.9%) in eight detecting genes, at least one driver gene variant was detected in 75% samples, and driver gene variant showed strong mutual exclusion. The most common EGFR mutations were 19 exon deletion and L858R mutation, and the mutation of EGFR T790M was accompanied by the above two mutations. The proportion of non-EGFR T790M mutations in patients with exon 19 deletion was lower than that of L858R mutations (P=0.04). There were 15.2% patients with EGFR mutation accompanied by EGFR amplification, and the proportion of patients with EGFR mutation frequency greater than 40% with EGFR amplification was higher than that without EGFR amplification (P < 0.01). Women, non-smoking, patients with adenocarcinoma were prone to carry EGFR especially EGFR sensitive mutations (P < 0.01). Patients with lung adenocarcinoma (P=0.013), late clinical stage (P=0.048), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.027) had a higher proportion of EGFR amplification. The incidence of KRAS mutation was higher in men, left lung cancer and smoking patients (P=0.009, P=0.048, P=0.037). Patients with non-KRAS mutations, ALK fusions were younger (P=0.005, P=0.031), and with KRAS mutations were older (P=0.055).

  Conclusions  : Next-generation sequencing (NGS) can simultaneously detect eight highly related driver genes in NSCLC patients to provide evidence for clinicians. NGS based on detection of multiple genes provides more possibilities for individualized diagnosis and treatment of NSCLC.