Strategies to overcome bypass mechanisms mediating clinical resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition in lung cancer

Abstract

The vast majority of patients with metastatic lung cancers who initially benefit from EGFR-targeted therapies eventually develop resistance. An increasing understanding of the number and complexity of resistance mechanisms highlights the challenge of treating tumors resistant to EGFR inhibitors. Resistance mechanisms include new, second-site mutations within EGFR (e.g., T790M and C797S), upregulation of MET kinase, upregulation of insulin growth factor receptor (IGFR), HER2 amplification, increased expression of AXL, BIM modulation, NF-kB activation, histologic switch to small-cell cancer, epithelial-tomesenchymal transition, PDL1 expression with subsequent immune tolerance, and release of cytokines such as TGFβ and IL6. Herein, we review the growing body of knowledge regarding EGFR bypass pathways, and the development of new drugs and combination treatment strategies to overcome resistance.