Questions About Cancer

The Spanish Group of Lung Cancer (GECP) has discovered a new subtype of lung cancer that responds best to the application of a particular drug that traditional chemotherapy.

This has been explained to this group, consisting of 266 Spanish oncologists who have undergone study of more than 2,100 patients with lung cancer. The investigation shows that people who had EGFR gene mutation, and were treated with a specific drug, obtained a higher response rate.

This is the first large European study, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine “and has performed in the laboratory of Molecular Biology Universiatario ICO-Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol in Badalona.

“The median survival for patients receiving the drug ‘erlotinib’ was between 14 and 27 months, almost a year longer than with traditional chemotherapy,” stated the GECP.

The gene called Factor Receptor (EGFR) is found naturally on the cell surface and its mutation occurs when there excessive activity, which can lead to uncontrolled cell division and increased predisposition to cancer.

Of the more than two thousand patients studied, the researchers found the gene mutation in 350, so that almost 16 percent of those with this disease may have this transformation.

“It should also be noted that mutations were found more frequently in women (69.7%) in non-smokers and lung tumor type called” adenocarcinoma “, explained this group of doctors.

The drug “Erlotinib is an inhibitor of EGFR gene mutation, and is currently used in patients with advanced lung cancer after first line chemotherapy, regardless of whether they have this variation.

For the director of GECP, Rafael Rosell, this discovery is “a new outlook and a new strategy in treating lung cancer,” because “patients with genetic mutations can benefit from early treatment and individualized” as well as achieve greater survival time. EFE

Tags: EGFR gene mutation, Factor Receptor, Improve Treatment, subtype of lung cancer,