Afatinib: new treatment options for lung cancer with activating EGFR mutations

Abstract

First generation EGFR inhibitors have significantly improved the outcomes of drug treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC, as well as notably increased the frequency of achieving objective response and time to progression of the disease. Today, the arsenal of efficient drugs is enlarged by the introduction into clinical practice of the second-generation EGFR inhibitor - afatinib. According to clinical studies, its full therapeutic effect is determined not only by the status of activating mutation but also its type. Afatinib also significantly increases the overall survival median in case of exon 19 EGFR mutation. This is an extremely important factor in the choice of adequate treatment. Afatinib is also effective in developing resistance to first-generation EGFR inhibitors and is an alternative to second-line therapy. It is hard to overestimate the benefits of the drug which allows for a meaningful delay in chemotherapy for such patients.

Keywords

• немелкоклеточный рак легкого
• ингибиторы
• egfr
• афатиниб
• egfr inhibitors
• afatinib