Department of Medical Oncology, National Taiwan University Cancer Center & Department of Oncology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Future Oncol. 2023 Feb;19(4):291-297. doi: 10.2217/fon-2022-0842. Epub 2023 Feb 16.
WHAT IS EGFR & WHAT IS AFATINIB?: EGFR is a protein on cells that helps control their growth and division. Mutations in the gene for EGFR can cause cancer, including some cases of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Afatinib is a medicine that blocks mutated and helps kill cancer cells. Many different types of mutation have been identified in people with NSCLC. Over three quarters of cases are caused by two types of mutation, known as common mutations, but some cases are caused by unusual/uncommon mutations. People with NSCLC who have these unusual/ uncommon mutations are often excluded from clinical trials. Consequently, researchers don't really know how well medicines like afatinib work in these people.
WHAT IS THIS SUMMARY ABOUT?: This is a summary of a study reporting findings from a large database of people with non-small-cell lung cancer (also called NSCLC) who have unusual or uncommon changes in a gene called and who received afatinib. The researchers used the database to see how effective afatinib is in people who have different types of unusual mutation. Afatinib seems to work well in people with NSCLC who have not already been treated. Part of the study also looked at people who had received a similar treatment, called osimertinib, in the past compared to those who had not been treated with this medicine.
WHAT DID THE RESEARCHERS FIND?: The researchers found that afatinib works well in most people with NSCLC who have unusual/uncommon mutations, although it seems to work better against certain types of these mutations than others.
WHAT DO THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY MEAN?: The researchers concluded that afatinib is a treatment option for most people with NSCLC and unusual/uncommon mutations. It is important for doctors to identify the precise type of mutation in a tumor before starting treatment.
表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）是什么，阿法替尼又是什么：EGFR 是一种存在于细胞表面的蛋白，它可以帮助控制细胞的生长和分裂。EGFR 基因的突变可导致癌症，包括某些非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）病例。阿法替尼是一种可以阻断异常 EGFR 并有助于杀死癌细胞的药物。在患有 NSCLC 的人群中，已经鉴定出许多不同类型的 EGFR 突变。超过四分之三的病例是由两种类型的 EGFR 突变引起的，称为常见 EGFR 突变，但有些病例是由不常见/罕见 EGFR 突变引起的。患有这些不常见/罕见 EGFR 突变的 NSCLC 患者通常被排除在临床试验之外。因此，研究人员实际上并不清楚阿法替尼等药物在这些患者中的疗效如何。
这是一项研究报告的摘要，该研究报告来自一个大型数据库，其中包括患有非小细胞肺癌（也称为 NSCLC）的患者，这些患者的基因 发生了异常或罕见的变化，并接受了阿法替尼治疗。研究人员使用该数据库来观察阿法替尼在具有不同类型异常 EGFR 突变的人群中的有效性。阿法替尼似乎对未经过治疗的 NSCLC 患者有效。该研究的一部分还比较了过去接受过类似治疗（称为奥希替尼）的患者与未接受过该药治疗的患者。
研究人员发现，阿法替尼对大多数患有 NSCLC 和异常/罕见 EGFR 突变的患者有效，尽管它似乎对某些类型的突变比其他类型的突变更有效。
研究人员得出结论，阿法替尼是大多数患有 NSCLC 和异常/罕见 EGFR 突变的患者的治疗选择。在开始治疗之前，医生确定肿瘤中确切的 EGFR 突变类型非常重要。
