Key Points
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Afatinib improves progression-free survival compared with cisplatin and pemetrexed as first- line treatment for patients with EGFR mutant lung cancers
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Afatinib monotherapy has limited efficacy in patients with EGFR-mutant lung cancers with disease progression on erlotinib or gefitinib
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Erlotinib, gefitinib and afatinib are all viable treatment options for the first-line treatment of patients with EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancers
On 15 July 2013, the FDA approved afatinib as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer whose tumours harbour exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) EGFR substitution mutations. We discuss three recent studies investigating afatinib in this molecular subset of patients.
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References
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W. Pao has consulted for the following companies: MolecularMD, AstraZeneca, Bristol–Myers Squibb, Symphony Evolution, Exelixis and Clovis Oncology. He has received research funding from the following companies: Enzon, Xcovery, AstraZeneca and Symphogen. The rights to EGFR T790M testing were licensed on behalf of William Pao by Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center to MolecularMD. H. Yu declares no competing interests.
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Yu, H., Pao, W. Afatinib—new therapy option for EGFR-mutant lung cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 10, 551–552 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2013.154
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2013.154
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