Personalized patient-precise medicine is being gradually incorporated into clinical practice for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The EGFR pathway has been explored as a druggable target with monoclonal antibodies such as cetuximab or necitumumab. Necitumumab is a humanized IgG1 anti-EGFR. In the Phase III SQUIRE trial, necitumumab used as first-line therapy in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine showed a reduction in risk-of-death and a better disease control rate in advanced squamous NSCLC. Thus, necitumumab is now a new first-line treatment option in squamous NSCLC. However, further biomarker research is needed to improve patient selection. Moreover, necitumumab associated with other immunotherapy and targeted agents is currently an important area of research that may yield better outcomes for NSCLC patients.
Keywords: EGFR; EGFR inhibitor; IMC-11F8; INSPIRE trial; NSCLC; SQUIRE trial; epidermal growth factor receptor; monoclonal antibody; necitumumab; non-small-cell lung cancer; squamous cell carcinoma; targeted therapy.