The role of molecular analyses in the era of personalized therapy for advanced NSCLC.

ABSTRACT: Platinum-based doublet chemotherapy is the traditional treatment of choice for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, the efficacy of these regimens has reached a plateau. Increasing evidence demonstrates that patients with sensitizing mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) experience improved progression-free survival and response rates with first-line gefitinib or erlotinib therapy relative to traditional platinum-based chemotherapy, while patients with EGFR-mutation negative tumors gain greater benefit from platinum-based chemotherapy. These results highlight the importance of molecular testing prior to the initiation of first-line therapy for advanced NSCLC. Routine molecular testing of tumor samples represents an important paradigm shift in NSCLC thera

SUBMITTER: Tanner NT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3403712 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature