Krebswissenschaft und -therapie

Emerging Systemic Therapeutic Approaches for Personalized Medicine in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Abstract

Grace Kho Dy

During the past decade, a number of novel agents developed for the treatment of advanced NSCLC had, by coincidence, shown survival benefit predominantly among patients with nonsquamous histology, namely pemetrexed (anti-folate), bevacizumab (VEGF pathway inhibition), erlotinib/gefitinib (EGFR receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors) and crizotinib (ALK receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This has sparked a heightened interest in discovering key molecular aberrations that may be relevant for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung, a histologic subtype that represents approximately 25% of lung cancer cases diagnosed globally. This article highlights the most promising recent discoveries and targeted agents in development that may be relevant for the treatment of SCC of the lung.