Efficacy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients having EGFR-activating mutations with or without BIM polymorphisms

Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer with BIM deletion polymorphism may have a limited response to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). However, some results of previous reports are discordant. It is necessary to evaluate the relationship between BIM polymorphism and the efficacy of EGFR-TKIs. We retrospectively analyzed patients treated with EGFR-TKIs. We collected serum samples from patients before EGFR-TKI administration. We analyzed BIM deletion polymorphism and BIM single nucleotide polymorphism in exon 5 c465C > T by the Invader® assay. BIM deletion polymorphism was identified in 27 of 194 patients (13.9%). BIM single nucleotide polymorphism was identified in 29 of 194 patients (14.9%). The overall response ratio was 81.5% in patients with BIM deletion polymorphism, 89.7% with BIM single nucleotide polymorphism, and 83.6% with BIM wild type. Median progression-free survival was 10.3 months with BIM deletion polymorphism, 8.5 months with BIM single nucleotide polymorphism, and 10.4 months with BIM wild type. Overall survival was 38.4 months with BIM deletion polymorphism, 29.1 months with BIM single nucleotide polymorphism, and 31.6 months with BIM wild type. There were no significant differences between the groups in overall response ratio, progression-free survival, and overall survival. BIM polymorphism does not affect EGFR-TKI efficacy.