Targeted Therapy in Advanced and Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. An Update on Treatment of the Most Important Actionable Oncogenic Driver Alterations
- PMID: 33671873
- PMCID: PMC7918961
- DOI: 10.3390/cancers13040804
Targeted Therapy in Advanced and Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. An Update on Treatment of the Most Important Actionable Oncogenic Driver Alterations
Abstract
Due to groundbreaking developments and continuous progress, the treatment of advanced and metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has become an exciting, but increasingly challenging task. This applies, in particular, to the subgroup of NSCLC with oncogenic driver alterations. While the treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-rearranged NSCLC with various tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is well-established, new targets have been identified in the last few years and new TKIs introduced in clinical practice. Even for KRAS mutations, considered for a long time as an "un-targetable" alteration, promising new drugs are emerging. The detection and in-depth molecular analysis of resistance mechanisms has further fueled the development of new therapeutic strategies. The objective of this review is to give a comprehensive overview on the current landscape of targetable oncogenic alterations in NSCLC.
Keywords: ALK gene rearrangements; BRAF mutations; EGFR exon 20 insertions; EGFR mutation; HER2 alterations; KRAS G12C inhibitors; KRAS mutations; MET alterations; NSCLC; NTRK gene fusions; RET gene rearrangements; ROS1 gene rearrangements; oncogenic alterations; targeted therapy.
Conflict of interest statement
David König received travel grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Takeda. Spasenija Savic received personal fees from MSD, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Pfizer and Thermo Fisher Scientific, outside the submitted work. Sacha Rothschild received honoraria (paid to institution) from AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer-Ingelheim, MSD, Novartis and Roche; received consultancy/advisory fees (paid to institution) from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Merck, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Takeda. He received research funding from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Merck. He received renumeration for travel and accommodation expenses from Amgen, AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer-Ingelheim, MSD and Takeda. S.R. serves as a member of the Federal Drug Commission of the Federal Office of Public Health and as member of the board of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK).
Figures

References
-
- Travis W.D., Brambilla E., Nicholson A.G., Yatabe Y., Austin J.H.M., Beasley M.B., Chirieac L.R., Dacic S., Duhig E., Flieder D.B., et al. The 2015 World Health Organization Classification of Lung Tumors: Impact of Genetic, Clinical and Radiologic Advances Since the 2004 Classification. J. Thorac. Oncol. 2015;10:1243–1260. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0000000000000630. - DOI - PubMed
-
- Campbell J.D., Alexandrov A., Kim J., Wala J., Berger A.H., Pedamallu C.S., Shukla S.A., Guo G., Brooks A.N., Murray B.A., et al. Distinct patterns of somatic genome alterations in lung adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. Nat. Genet. 2016;48:607–616. doi: 10.1038/ng.3564. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Kris M.G., Johnson B.E., Berry L.D., Kwiatkowski D.J., Iafrate A.J., Wistuba I.I., Varella-Garcia M., Franklin W.A., Aronson S.L., Su P.F., et al. Using multiplexed assays of oncogenic drivers in lung cancers to select targeted drugs. JAMA. 2014;311:1998–2006. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.3741. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
-
- Postmus P.E., Brambilla E., Chansky K., Crowley J., Goldstraw P., Patz E.F., Jr., Yokomise H., International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer International Staging. Cancer Research and Biostatistics. Observers to the Committee et al. The IASLC Lung Cancer Staging Project: Proposals for revision of the M descriptors in the forthcoming (seventh) edition of the TNM classification of lung cancer. J. Thorac. Oncol. 2007;2:686–693. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0b013e31811f4703. - DOI - PubMed
Publication types
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Research Materials
Miscellaneous