[Treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with driver mutations]

Abstract

Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer is no longer one disease but the collective name for different diseases defined by clinical, histological, immunohistochemical and, to an increasing extent, molecular biomarkers. This article deals with the treatment options we gained by identifying so called driver mutations in a growing subset of these cancers. For patients whose tumors are characterized by a targetable molecular alteration such as an activating EGFR-Mutation, an ALK-translocation or a ROS1-rearrangement, we see prolonged survival and oral treatments with tyrosine kinase inhibitors demonstrate superiority to chemotherapy in terms of response (remission rate), progression free survival and quality of life. We provide a review of the literature and discuss the status quo of the diagnostic need and the therapeutic options in Germany and Europe.