Synergistic Effect of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors and Ionization Radiation in Cancer Treatment

BACKGROUND: Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in a variety of cancers and is associated with poor prognosis, low survival rate, and resistance of cancer cells to treatment. OBJECTIVE: This review discusses the combined effect of EGFR inhibitor and radiation therapy in cancer treatment. METHOD: The recent literature and patent applications were considered in which the role of EGFR in cancer and EGFR inhibitors, as well as the preclinical and clinical studies are related to synergistic effects of EGFR inhibitors and ionizing radiation in the treatment of various cancers. RESULTS: The specific inhibition has been introduced as targeted therapy for treatment of cancers. Two major pharmacological approaches for inhibition of EGFR are monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The use of these agents in combination with ionizing radiation results in increasing the cytotoxicity on tumors that are rich in expression of EGFR. CONCLUSION: The combination of EGFR inhibitor and ionizing radiation has synergistic effect and resulted in improvement of radiotherapy in patients.