TKIs and Radiotherapy

I'm no chef, but I'm certain great chefs know very well which combinations work and which don't.

In medicine, combination therapy is no different.

In lung cancer, there are several strategies that can be utilized for disease management.

Of the four strategies used in the management of lung cancer, targeted therapy and radiotherapy are the most commonly used for advanced-stage lung cancers and have the most potential for combination treatment (the other 2 strategies being surgery and chemotherapy).

The premise for combining targeted therapy with radiation therapy is largely derived from 2 facts:

• Targeted agents developed so far are in themselves not curative, especially for solid tumours.

• In contrast, radiotherapy in itself is extremely efficient to eradicate clonogenic cells, and recurrences often occur from only

one or few surviving cells.

Therefore,

• Targeted therapy might be sufficient to increase local control significantly when combined with radiotherapy.

• The same argument applies when these drugs increase the radiosensitivity of tumour cells.