Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Science. 2004 Jun 4;304(5676):1497-500. Epub 2004 Apr 29.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Adv Anat Pathol. 2005 Mar;12(2):47-52.
Science. 2004 Jun 4;304(5676):1458-61.

EGFR mutations in lung cancer: correlation with clinical response to gefitinib therapy.

Departments of Medical Oncology and Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Receptor tyrosine kinase genes were sequenced in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and matched normal tissue. Somatic mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene EGFR were found in 15of 58 unselected tumors from Japan and 1 of 61 from the United States. Treatment with the EGFR kinase inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa) causes tumor regression in some patients with NSCLC, more frequently in Japan. EGFR mutations were found in additional lung cancer samples from U.S. patients who responded to gefitinib therapy and in a lung adenocarcinoma cell line that was hypersensitive to growth inhibition by gefitinib, but not in gefitinib-insensitive tumors or cell lines. These results suggest that EGFR mutations may predict sensitivity to gefitinib.

PMID: 15118125 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Patient Drug Information

  • Gefitinib (Iressa® )

    Gefitinib is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer in people who have already been treated with certain other chemotherapy medications and have not improved or whose condition has worsened. Gefitinib has not been show...