Abstract
Chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is widely perceived to have reached a plateau in terms of efficacy. A recent study ofseveralplatinum-based dublet chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of advanced NSCLC failed to show a survival advantage for any of the regimens when compared with each other (Schiller et al. 2002). Therefore, it appears that the potential for improving current treatments is limited, and novel targeted therapies are urgently needed. One promising therapeutic target is the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), whose activation has a major involvement in processes essential for tumor growth, including proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Expression of EGFR has been shown to correlate with a poor prognosis, disease progression and resistance to chemotherapy (Wells 2000). EGFR is targeted by the novel agent gefitinib (Tressa, ZD 1839), a small-molecule EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI). Gefitinib is an orally active agent, which blocks signal transduction pathways implicated in the proliferation and survival of cancer-cells, in addition to host-dependent processes promoting cancer-cell growth. Several clinical trials of gefitinib in NSCLC have been carried out or are underway.
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Manegold, C. (2003). Gefitinib (IRESSA, ZD 1839) for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): Recents Results and Further Strategies. In: Llombart-Bosch, A., Felipo, V. (eds) New Trends in Cancer for the 21st Century. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 532. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0081-0_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0081-0_20
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