Afatinib lung cancer treatment

Interview with Prof Thomas J. Lynch, MD
Director of Yale Cancer Center,
New Haven, USA

Q. How do you personally evaluate afatinib?

A. I think afatinib is an example of a terrific triumph of rational drug design. Boehringer Ingelheim looked specifically at the receptor, at the mutated receptor and challenged their scientists to develop compounds that, that could inhibit this receptor effectively and inhibit this mutation effectively. So I think it's a terrifically done trial and I think it gives a lot of enthusiasm to doctors in lung cancer that there may be new medicines on the horizon that are going to make a difference for our patients.

Q. What can afatinib add to the treatment of NSCLC?

A. Now that we know the results of LUX-Lung 3 I think for patients it gives them additional options for how to be treated with non-small cell lung cancer, if they have an EGFR mutation. I think afatinib* will enter the armamentarium as a very reasonable choice for patients who have EGFR mutations.