- EGFR+ lung cancer is a type of lung cancer, not linked to smoking, that is caused by one of a number of nonhereditary gene mutations.
- One mutation, exon 20, had no effective treatments beyond chemotherapy until a tyrosine kinase inhibitor called Mobocertinib (marketed as Exkivity) was licensed in 2021.
- However, the manufacturers withdrew it from use in the United States late last year, and health authorities in the United Kingdom plan to follow suit next month.
- EGFR+ campaigners are concerned that people in the United Kingdom with this mutation will now have no treatment options to extend life after chemotherapy.
Even though, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Most of these are non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC), caused by mutations of the
These cancers often present in younger people and have atypical symptoms, such as shoulder pain, or other musculoskeletal symptoms, rather than the coughing, breathlessness and recurrent chest infections that are usually seen in smoking-related lung cancers.
Several different nonhereditary mutations can lead to EGFR+ lung cancer. The most common are EGFR 19 deletion — where part of the gene is missing — and EGFR L858R point mutation, in which one
The
Apart from
However, in 2021, a new TKI, mobocertinib (Exkivity), received
Read the full article here