EGFR and KRAS Mutations, and ALK Fusions: Current Developments and Personalized Therapies for Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Personalized therapy has significantly developed in lung cancer treatment over recent years. VEGF and EGF play a major role in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor angiogenesis and aggressiveness. EGFR mutation as well as KRAS and ALK rearrangements are important biomarkers in the field owing to potential targeted therapies involved in clinical practice: erlotinib, geftinib, cetuximab and crizotinib. More recently, regulation of tumor immunity through CTLA4 and PD1/L1 has emerged as a promising field in NSCLC management. This review will focus on the current and future biomarkers in the advanced NSCLC field and also address potential related targeted therapies for these patients.

KEYWORDS::

• afatinib
• ALK–EML4
• bevacizumab
• cetuximab
• crizotinib
• EGFR mutation
• erlotinib
• gefitinib
• lung cancer

Financial & competing interests disclosure

S Popat is a nonreimbursed consultant to AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer and Roche. RA de Mello has received travel grants from Janssen and Merck Serono. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

S Popat is a nonreimbursed consultant to AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer and Roche. RA de Mello has received travel grants from Janssen and Merck Serono. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.