The development of EGFR molecular imaging and gene mutation in non-small cell lung cancer

In vivo epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) imaging has great potential to affect patient-specific treatment for NSCLC, applying a targeted therapy, and measuring molecular-specific effects of treatment. New PET/CT radiotracers,such as N-(4-bromo-2-fluorophenyl)-6-methoxy-7-[(1-methylpiperidin-4-yl) methoxy]quinazolin-4-amine (ZD6476), five 4-(anilino) quinazoline derivatives (ML01) and 4-[(3-iodophenyl) amino]-7-(2-[2-{2-(2-[2-{2-([¹⁸F]fluoroethoxy)-ethoxy}-ethoxy]-ethoxy)- ethoxy }-ethoxy]-quinazoline-6-yl-acrylamide) ([¹⁸F]F-PEG6-IPQA) are now available. But, ¹¹C labeled-4-N-(3-bromoanilino)-6, 7-dimethoxyquinazoline (PD153035) is the only PET/CT radiotracer used for human clinical evaluation,primarily for EGFR imaging. Finally, the most important aspect of successful imaging is the identification and characterization of EGFR at the cellular or sub-cellular level with high specificity for the target. Considering the need for further development of such PET/CT tracers, EGFR molecular imaging will be presented along with an important examination of the progression that has been made thus far in the field. (authors)