Clinical lung cancer
-
Clinical lung cancer · Sep 2003
ReviewBiologically targeted treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer: focus on epidermal growth factor receptor.
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has emerged in recent years as a key target of molecular therapy for solid tumors. The postembryonic role of EGFR is normally limited. In cancer, however, abnormal EGFR-tyrosine kinase (TK) activity plays a central role in many of the processes involved in tumor progression, such as proliferation, angiogenesis, invasiveness, decreased apoptosis, and loss of differentiation. ⋯ In heavily pretreated patients with advanced NSCLC, gefitinib showed clinically significant tumor responses and symptom relief with good tolerability. Based on these results, gefitinib has now been approved for the third-line treatment of advanced NSCLC. The use of gefitinib in standard treatment programs or combined with other molecular targeted agents may substantially improve the outlook for patients with NSCLC or other types of solid tumors