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Clinical-molecular factors predicting response and survival for tyrosine-kinase inhibitors

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  • Molecular Targets in Oncology
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Abstract

The development of drugs with special mechanisms of action, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), means that new clinical-molecular questions are being examined and this will help us to better select from the treatments available. In this study we review questions of survival and response to TKIs, attempting to distinguish prediction-and prognosis-related factors, at both the clinical and molecular levels. The evidence available today allows us to affirm that the benefits of TKI treatment occur regardless of the patient’s status as a smoker, his/her gender or histological sub-type. Interestingly, in a subset analysis of ever-smokers, men with squamous cell histology derived a statistically significant survival benefit from erlotinib, a population that was previously thought not to benefit. The question of who should receive TKIs is still not completely resolved. Therefore, there should be an international effort to achieve a prognostic index, as has been done for lymphomas, that combines molecular and clinical factors. Such an index would classify patients into several sub-groups, defining the likelihood of non-response to TKIs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, C/ Manuel de Falla, 1, ES-28222, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain

    Mariano Provencio

  2. Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Juan Canalejo, La Coruña, Spain

    Rosario García-Campelo

  3. Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Lozano Blesa, Zaragoza, Spain

    Dolores Isla

  4. Medical Oncology Department, Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain

    Javier de Castro

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  1. Mariano Provencio
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  2. Rosario García-Campelo
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  3. Dolores Isla
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  4. Javier de Castro
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Correspondence to Mariano Provencio.

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Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer

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Provencio, M., García-Campelo, R., Isla, D. et al. Clinical-molecular factors predicting response and survival for tyrosine-kinase inhibitors. Clin Transl Oncol 11, 428–436 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-009-0381-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-009-0381-3

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