ABSTRACT
Aberrant increased expression and activation of receptor tyrosine kinases occur frequently in human carcinomas. Several small molecules targeting receptor tyrosine kinases, which have crucial roles in the growth factor signaling that promote tumor progression in various malignancies, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), are currently in clinical development. Therapeutic strategies include inhibition of growth factor tyrosine kinase function. Drugs of this type include those that target the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase, those that target vascular endothelial growth factor receptors tyrosine kinase and those that target anaplastic lymphoma receptor tyrosine kinase. In this review we first discuss the role of receptor tyrosine kinases in human malignancies, and focus on discussing the potential use of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors tyrosine kinase inhibitors in NSCLC. In addition, we discuss the contribution of growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors to the clinically observed resistance, and toxicity.