ONCOmmunity

Afatinib is Especially Effective Against Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Carrying an EGFR Exon 19 Deletion.

By: Eri Banno, Yosuke Togashi, Yoshihisa Kobayashi, Hidetoshi Hayashi, Tetsuya Mitsudomi, Kazuto Nishio

Department of Genome Biology, Kinki University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
2015-4-12; doi:

Abstract

Background

A recent pooled analysis of the LUX-LUNG3 and LUX-LUNG6 trials suggested that afatinib (an irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI)) is especially effective against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying an EGFR exon 19 deletion.

Materials

Stable viral transfectant HEK293 cell lines carrying an exon 19 deletion (HEK293/19 del) or exon 21 L858R mutation (HEK293/ L858R)) were created and their drug sensitivities to AG1478 (a reversible EGFR-TKI) and afatinib were examined using an MTT assay. Western blot analyses were performed to estimate the phosphorylation of EGFR.

Results

In the HEK293/19 del, the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of afatinib was significantly lower than that in the HEK293/ L858R. In addition, afatinib inhibited the phosphorylation of EGFR to a greater degree in the HEK293/19 del than in the HEK293/L858R.

Conclusion

Our experimental findings suggest that afatinib is especially effective against NSCLC carrying an EGFR exon 19 deletion.