Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors and derived treatments.

Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors are used to treat advanced lung cancer patients for almost a decade. Current knowledge on their role in the first or subsequent lines of therapy serves as a model for other targeted therapies in development. Several molecular predictors of outcomes were successfully identified in preclinical and clinical studies. Evaluation of EGFR-activating mutations is currently used to define biologically distinct patient subsets with important consequences for prognosis and therapy. Ongoing translational and clinical research exploring EGFR inhibition in lung cancer focuses on better understanding of biology of EGFR-driven disease, efficacy of novel irreversible EGFR inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies, efficacy of combination strategies, and attempts to move EGFR inhibitors into therapy portfolio for early-stage disease.