Abstract
Lung cancers with an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation account for ~40 % of adenocarcinomas in East Asians and ~15 % of those in Caucasians and African Americans, which makes them one of the most common molecularly defined lung cancer subsets. The discriminative clinical and pathological features of lung cancers with EGFR mutations have been intensively studied, and the predictive role of an EGFR mutation for treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) is well established. However, controversial issues remain regarding the clinical and therapeutic implications of EGFR mutations in lung cancers. These include the prognostic impact of the EGFR mutation, its predictive implication for successful treatment with anticancer agents other than EGFR-TKIs, appropriate cytotoxic agents for lung cancers with this mutation, and the chemosensitivity of EGFR-mutation-positive lung cancers after acquisition of resistance to EGFR-TKIs. In this review, we discuss these unanswered but important questions, referring to in vitro studies, basic research, retrospective analyses, and the results of phase III clinical trials.
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Acknowledgments
Current research in my laboratory is supported by Grants-in-Aid of Cancer Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan (K. Suda, 15K18450), grants from the Japan Surgical Society (JSS) Young Researcher Award 2014 (K. Suda), the Kaibara Morikazu Medical Science Promotion Foundation (K. Suda), the Uehara Memorial Foundation (T. Mitsudomi), and the Takeda Science Foundation (T. Mitsudomi).
Conflict of interest
T. Mitsudomi has received honoraria from AstraZeneca, Chugai, Boehlinger-Ingelheim, Pfizer, Roche, Novartis, and Taiho and has played an advisory role for AstraZeneca, Chugai, Boehlinger-Ingelheim, Pfizer, Roche, and Clovis Oncology. K. Suda declares no conflict of interest.
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Suda, K., Mitsudomi, T. Role of EGFR mutations in lung cancers: prognosis and tumor chemosensitivity. Arch Toxicol 89, 1227–1240 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-015-1524-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-015-1524-7