International Journal of Hematology and Oncology 2023, Vol 33, Num 4 Page(s): 184-184
Targeted Therapy in non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Ilhan OZTOP

Dokuz Eylul Universitesi, Onkoloji Enstitusu, Izmir, TURKEY

Keywords: non-Small cell lung cancer, Targeted therapy
Recently the medical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has changed from the conventional therapy to targeted therapy since the introduction of targeted agents. To date four targeted therapies (gefitinib, erlotinib, cetuximab and bevacizumab) have been investigated in randomised trials in the treatment of advanced stage NSCLC. The clinical response rates obtained with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors, such as gefitinib and erlotinib, in unselected patient populations only account for approximately 10%. So that, numerous trials have been performed in order to identify the patient subpopulations that could better benefit from these agents, and higher response and survival rates have been reported in these patient subsets either as first-line or second-line treatment. In another randomised trial, it has been demonstrated a survival benefit of cetuximab, an EGFRtargeted monoclonal antibody, in combination with cisplatin/vinorelbine in advanced first-line NSCLC irrespective of histology. In two randomised phase III trial bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenic agent, has been shown to significantly prolong progression free survival and overall survival when added to carboplatin/paclitaxel while this advantage has been limited to progression free survival when added to cisplatin/gemcitabine as the first-line treatment. The combining of two targeted therapies, such as EGFR-TKI and bevacizumab, has been attractive in specific patient populations in recent years.