Expanding options for EGFR targeting in lung cancer

The discovery of response to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patient with activating mutations in the EGFR gene in 2004 dramatically altered the approach to the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (1,2). However, the path to the current treatment paradigm for the use of EGFR TKIs in patients with NSCLC has been circuitous. The first (and to date only) regulatory approval of EGFR inhibitors for NSCLC in the United States was based on data from the BR.21 trial.