VEGF inhibitors in EGFR-mutated lung cancer: a never-ending story?

Over the last 15 years, multiple generations of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have completely transformed the landscape of management of EGFR-mutated lung cancers but are rarely used in other settings. In the pre-molecular testing era, the 1^st generation reversible EGFR inhibitor, erlotinib, was shown to prolong survival in patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after failure of first- or second-line chemotherapy compared to placebo [overall survival (OS) was 6.7 vs. 4.7 months, hazard ratio (HR) 0.70, P<0.001] (1).