Over the past decade, major breakthroughs in the understanding of lung cancer histology
and mutational pathways have radically changed diagnosis and management. More specifically, in
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), tumour characterisation has shifted from differentiating based
solely on histology to characterisation that includes genetic profiling and mutational status of
Epidermal Growth Factor (EGFR), Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK), c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1)
and BRAF. These genetic alterations can be targeted by specific drugs that result in improved
progression-free survival, as well as higher response rates and are currently standard of care for
NSCLC patients harbouring these mutations. In this a narrative, non-systematic review we aim to
handpick through the extensive literature and critically present the ground-breaking studies that lead
to the institution of tailored treatment options as the standard of care for the main targetable genetic
alterations.
Amethyst NSCLC trial: Phase 2, parallel-arm study of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor, MGCD265 in patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with activating genetic alterations in mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET)