The Presence of Autonomous and Non-Autonomous Replication in Cancer and their Connection through Inflammation: Lessons from one Lung Cancer Case

Abstract

Targeted therapy with small molecule such as TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) against EGFR has achieved high response rate and significant clinical benefits in selected group of lung cancer patients in the past decade. One reliable criterion for patient selection is the presence of certain mutations in the EGFR gene such as mutations in exon-19, 20 or 21 in lung cancer patients. In these patients, it is often observed that TKI therapy could be so effective even against late stage tumors, that patients experience rapid relieve of clinical symptoms and stable control of disease progression for an extended period of time, often lasting for month’s even years.