Penetrating the evidence of EGFR and ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer brain metastases

Abstract

The brain is a common metastatic site in lung cancer. Approximately one-third of patients will develop brain metastases during the course of their disease. Median overall survival has been reported between 3 and 14.8 months in patients with brain metastases compared to other metastatic sites. In addition, the lifetime incidence of brain metastases is increasing due to prolonged survival seen in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients due to new systemic therapies and improved neuro-imaging techniques. Several targeted therapies—such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting epidermal growth factor receptors and anaplastic lymphoma kinase—are active in NSCLC and have data to suggested possible effectiveness against brain metastases in these patients.