Publications by authors named "M A Bareschino"
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The outcomes in patients with pancreatic cancer remain unsatisfactory. In the current review, we summarize the genetic and epigenetic architecture of metastatic pancreatic cancer beyond the BRCA mutations, focusing on the genetic alterations and the molecular pathology in pancreatic cancer.
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- - The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a key target for treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with drugs like erlotinib and gefitinib focusing on this receptor as reversible inhibitors.
- - Patients with EGFR mutations respond well to these treatments but typically experience disease progression within 10 to 14 months.
- - Newer irreversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) like afatinib and PF299804 are being explored as alternatives that may overcome resistance to earlier drugs, although their exact role in treatment is still being clarified.
Article Synopsis
- - Lung cancer, specifically Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), is a major global health issue with ongoing research to enhance survival rates, primarily through chemotherapy and targeted therapies.
- - Targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has significantly influenced NSCLC treatment, with 10-15% of cases showing mutations that respond well to specific drugs like gefitinib and erlotinib.
- - The discovery of the EML4-ALK fusion gene in 4-5% of NSCLC cases has led to the development of effective ALK inhibitors like crizotinib, which shows promise in improving patient outcomes compared to traditional chemotherapy.
Lung cancer, of which non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common form, remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with many patients presenting with advanced disease at initial diagnosis. In advanced NSCLC patients whose tumors harbor activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, the use of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) as first-line treatment has provided an unusually large progression-free-survival (PFS) benefit, a significantly high response rate (RR) and decreased toxicity when compared with cytotoxic chemotherapy in several phase III randomized trials; however, resistance invariably occurs. There are multiple mechanisms defined by which tumor cells may become independent of EGFR such as the well-characterized example of mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) amplification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Among lung cancers, 80% are classified as nonsmall- cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and are mostly diagnosed at an advanced stage (either locally advanced or metastatic disease). In the last years, the discovery of the pivotal role in tumorigenesis of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) has provided a new class of targeted therapeutic agents: the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs).
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