Barbara J. Gitlitz, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine, Keck Medicine, University of Southern California, discusses EGFR mutations in patients with lung cancer.

Gitlitz's case study highlights the exon 20 insertion, which is the third most common EGFR mutation. The first most common mutation is exon 19, and the second is the exon 20 mutation. Patients present with this exon 20 insertion, and they are resistant to the common EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

She stresses the importance of looking at the resistant mutation because while it still drives the cancer, the first and second generation EGFR inhibitors are not strong enough to inhibit the target.

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