Improvement in the quality of molecular analysis of EGFR in non-small-cell lung cancer detected by three rounds of external quality assessment

摘要: Background The clinical need to determine the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) order make informed decisions for patient treatment has seen widespread introduction EGFR molecular testing many laboratories. To ensure high-quality and allow laboratories externally measure standard service, an external quality assessment (EQA) scheme was provided assess whole process. Methods Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded NSCLC tumour sections were distributed routine testing, genotyping accuracy, interpretation result clerical accuracy report independently assessed. Results Three rounds have identified errors highlighted education main issues raised importance accurate genotyping, including use common mutation nomenclature, clear unambiguous result, impact sample regarding amount being analysed heterogeneity on test result. Conclusions Improvements all these areas observed during progression three EQA rounds, however, continuous unacceptably high error rates demonstrate continual this field.