EGFR inhibition in metastatic triple negative breast cancer: a losing target

Triple negative breast cancer is a histologic subtype of breast carcinomas characterized by the lack of expression of hormone receptors (HR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Fifteen percent of the breast carcinomas are triple negative. It is the most aggressive histological subtype, affecting younger age population, and highly associated with distant recurrences despite adequate local control, mainly in the first three years following the diagnosis. In the metastatic setting, the median overall survival is around 12 months.1,2 The only available treatments still consist of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy with many promising results seen with poly‒ADP‒ribose‒polymerase inhibitors (PARP) inhibitors during this last decade. Many pathways and receptors expressed in the metastatic triple negative breast cancer (mTNBC) had been the subjects of research and clinical trials: androgen receptors, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), antibody drug conjugate via targeting certain surface receptors and anti‒angiogenics.