Unique profiles of targetable genomic alterations and prognosis in young Chinese patients with lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract Objective Lung adenocarcinoma in young patients is a rare entity, and the targetable genomic alterations (GAs) are poorly studied. In other cancers, it has been demonstrated that young age defines unique disease biology. Here, the association of young age with GAs and prognosis is studied in a large cohort of Chinese patients. Methods We retrospectively screened 1000 consecutive patients, and identified 181 patients aged 40 years or younger. GAs were identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) assay. The clinical and genetic characteristics were analyzed. Results Among younger group, 167(92.3%) patients were diagnosed with advanced-stage adenocarcinoma, 98(54.1%) were female, 27(14.9%) were smokers, and the median age was 35 years. Targetable GAs which were significantly more common in the younger population ( P P P P  >  0.05) or better than that for older population (median OS of patients without GAs, 44.28 vs 41.88 months, P P Conclusion Younger patients with lung adenocarcinoma had unique prevalence of targetable GAs. Comprehensive genotyping including NGS is recommended for personalized therapy and prognosis evaluation in this population.