EGFR as therapeutic target to develop new generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors against breast cancer: A critical review
Ruby Mariam Raju, Jeffin Joy A, Raghavendra Nulgumnalli Manjunathaiah, Antony Justin, B. R. Prashantha Kumar
Abstract
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor is a multifunctional receptor and is an important member of tyrosine kinase family. Investigation on mechanism of tumour progression and its suppression has identified prominent role of EGFR, which was the first identified amongst its family. EGFR has various cellular functions but aberration of the receptor results in tumour development. About half of the breast cancer cases overexpresses EGFR, making it as an appropriate target for discovery of molecular based targeted therapeutics i.e., EGFR inhibitors. This review focusses on the structural features, signaling pathways and role of EGFR in breast cancer. In addition to this, the recent developments of TKIs targeting EGFR are discussed along with the structural activity relationships. Also, the article highlights on the tyrosine kinase inhibitors that are under clinical study and patents.