Afatinib (Giotrif®, Gilotrif®) is an orally administered, irreversible inhibitor of the ErbB family of tyrosine kinases. In the first-line treatment of patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, afatinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and time to treatment failure (TTF), but not overall survival (OS), compared with gefitinib (LUX-Lung 7 trial). In the overall population of patients receiving first-line treatment for advanced lung adenocarcinoma with activating EGFR mutations, afatinib significantly prolonged PFS, but not OS, compared with pemetrexed plus cisplatin (LUX-Lung 3 trial) or gemcitabine plus cisplatin (LUX-Lung 6 trial). However, in both LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6, OS was significantly prolonged in the subgroup of patients with deletions in exon 19 receiving afatinib versus chemotherapy. In the second-line treatment of advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), afatinib significantly prolonged PFS and OS, compared with erlotinib, regardless of EGFR mutation status (LUX-Lung 8 trial). Afatinib had a predictable and manageable tolerability profile in patients with advanced NSCLC. In conclusion, afatinib is an important option for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC and activating EGFR mutations, and provides an additional option for the treatment of patients with squamous NSCLC that has progressed following first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are novel agents that have shown promise across multiple tumor types. Explore the current landscape of ADCs in breast and lung cancer with our experts, and gain insights into the mechanism of action, key clinical trials data, existing challenges, and future directions.