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Resistance to gefitinib

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Abstract

Subsets of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who carry somatic mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have responded remarkably well to a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), gefitinib. Despite the dramatic response to this inhibitor, most patients nevertheless ultimately have a relapse. We herein report a case of advanced NSCLC in a patient carrying mutated EGFR (delE746-A750) who had a relapse after dramatic improvement by gefitinib treatment. The DNA sequence of the EGFR gene in a tumor biopsy specimen obtained from the relapse site revealed the presence of a second point mutation, resulting in a threonine-to-methionine amino acid substitution at position 790 of EGFR, which could not be detected in the tumor specimen taken before the treatment. Screening subjects with EGFR mutations therefore allows us to identify patients who can be successfully treated with gefitinib. Such observations should also help us in the search for more effective therapies against a specific subset of NSCLC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyushu, 807-8555, Japan

    Hidetaka Uramoto, Kenji Sugio, Masakazu Sugaya, Takeshi Hanagiri & Kosei Yasumoto

  2. Department of Environmental Health, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan

    Tsunehiro Oyama

Authors
  1. Hidetaka Uramoto
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  2. Kenji Sugio
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  3. Tsunehiro Oyama
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  4. Masakazu Sugaya
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  5. Takeshi Hanagiri
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  6. Kosei Yasumoto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenji Sugio.

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Uramoto, H., Sugio, K., Oyama, T. et al. Resistance to gefitinib. Int J Clin Oncol 11, 487–491 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-006-0609-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-006-0609-y

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