Combined therapy with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors for non–small cell lung cancer

Introduction: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have a pronounced clinical benefit for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) positive for EGFR activating mutations. Such individuals inevitably develop resistance to these drugs, however, new treatment strategies to overcome such resistance are being actively pursued. The clinical benefit of EGFR-TKIs for patients with locally advanced NSCLC remains to be clarified. Areas covered: This review summarizes the recent progress in combination treatment with EGFR-TKIs and either chemotherapy or radiotherapy for patients with NSCLC positive for EGFR activating mutations. Expert commentary: Combination therapy with EGFR-TKIs and various other treatment options are under investigation in clinical studies. Although early studies failed to show a clinical benefit for such combination therapy because of a lack of patient selection, clinical studies with patient selection based on EGFR mutation status have shown promising results. Such combination therapy might eventually replace the current standard treatment for patients with NSCLC positive for EGFR activating mutations.