Non-receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors in lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death. Systemic therapies with cytotoxic chemotherapies remain ineffective. Current research efforts in lung cancer have focused on developing novel agents to target cellular pathways that are altered in lung cancer. Protein tyrosine kinases are a family of oncogenes that regulate important cellular processes such as differentiation, proliferation, cell cycle, motility, and apoptosis. In this article, we review non receptor tyrosine kinases' role in lung cancer and the development of agents that target these proteins.