Targeted therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer using EGFR-TKIs

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The management of NSCLC has changed dramatically in the last decade. A number of well documented clinical studies demonstrated that the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) showed a better survival benefit comparing to the standard treatments in patients with advanced/metastatic NSCLC. EGFR-TKIs, including gefitinib and erlotinib, have been used in first-line, second-line and more other settings with obvious survival benefits in a subgroup of patients with EGFR mutations. Moreover, icotinib, a novel EGFR-TKIs developed by BetaPharma Inc., has finished its phase III trial (ICOGEN) with encouraging efficacy and safety profile in China recently. This review will summarize the results of clinical trials of erlotinib, gefitinib or icotinib for patients with advanced NSCLC.