. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Mar 1.

Published in final edited form as: Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2009 Mar;13(3):339–362. doi: 10.1517/14712590902735795

Table 1.

Current use of anti-EGFR agents in clinical settings

Class	Synergy in clinical use
Antibodies (cetuximab panitumumab)	Cetuximab plus radiation: improved cure rate and survival in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) [161]. Cetuximab plus platinum-based chemotherapy: improved response rate and progression free survival (PFS) in metastatic/recurrent SCCHN [162,222]; improved survival in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [223]. Cetuximab plus irinotecan or oxaliplatin: improved PFS in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) [3,224,225].
Small molecule kinase inhibitors (Erlotinib Gefitinib Lapatinib )	With gemcitabine, mild survival gains (0.33 months) in metastatic pancreatic cancer. Erlotinib is approved by the FDA for treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in combination with gemcitabine [226]. So far, limited benefit has been seen in combinations of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with radiation in early phase clinical trials marked by increased toxicity. Both gefitinib and erlotinib are antagonistic with some forms of chemotherapy in Phase III trials [97,170]. Lapatinib improves time to progression of human EGF recepter 2 (HER-2)-positive metastatic breast cancer patients [119].

Class

Synergy in clinical use

Antibodies (cetuximab panitumumab)

Cetuximab plus radiation: improved cure rate and survival in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) [161].
Cetuximab plus platinum-based chemotherapy: improved response rate and progression free survival (PFS) in metastatic/recurrent SCCHN [162,222]; improved survival in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [223].
Cetuximab plus irinotecan or oxaliplatin: improved PFS in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) [3,224,225].

Small molecule kinase inhibitors (Erlotinib Gefitinib Lapatinib )

With gemcitabine, mild survival gains (0.33 months) in metastatic pancreatic cancer. Erlotinib is approved by the FDA for treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in combination with gemcitabine [226].
So far, limited benefit has been seen in combinations of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with radiation in early phase clinical trials marked by increased toxicity. Both gefitinib and erlotinib are antagonistic with some forms of chemotherapy in Phase III trials [97,170].
Lapatinib improves time to progression of human EGF recepter 2 (HER-2)-positive metastatic breast cancer patients [119].