EGFR-TKIs in EGFR-mutated lung cancer: setting the new standard for 1^st line therapy

Treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harbouring activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with EGFR-directed tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) has become a paradigm for the therapeutic potential of personalized cancer treatment. Never before treatment results were reported for a defined NSCLC subgroup comparable with the outcome reported in clinical trials evaluating treatment of EGFR-mutated NSCLC with either gefitinib or erlotinib. For instance, in a recent trial of the Spanish Lung Cancer Group 217 patients with EGFR mutated advanced NSCLC were treated with erlotinib either first - or second line with a remission rate of 71%, a median time to progression (TTP) of 14 months and a median overall survival time (OS) of 27 months (1).