High Detection Rate of Uncommon Driver Gene Mutations in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Single-Center, Small-Sample Study and Clinical Implications in the Wuling Mountain Area of China

Objective

To investigate the characteristics and clinical significance of driver gene mutations in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) from the Wuling Mountain area of China. Materials and Methods: Clinical data and molecular testing results, including next-generation sequencing (NGS), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), from 64 patients with LUSC treated at Tongren People’s Hospital between September 2017 and April 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. Uncommon mutations were defined as alterations involving ALK, MET exon 14 skipping, BRAF, ERBB2, ROS1, and KRAS. Intergroup comparisons were performed using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. This retrospective study used only de-identified clinical data and involved no patient intervention or identifiable privacy risk; therefore, ethics committee approval was not required.