Promising targets and current clinical trials in metastatic non-squamous NSCLC

Lung adenocarcinoma is the most common subtype of lung cancer today. With the discovery of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements, and effective targeted therapy, personalized medicine has become a reality for patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Here, we review potential additional targets and novel therapies of interest in lung adenocarcinoma including targets within the cell surface (receptor tyrosine kinases EGFR, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, RET, ROS1, mesenchymal-epidermal transition, TRK), targets in intracellular signal transduction (ALK, RAS-RAF-MEK, PI3K-AKT-PTEN, WNT), nuclear targets such as poly-ADP ribose polymerase, heat shock protein 90, and histone deacetylase, and selected pathways in the tumor environment. With the evolving ability to identify specific molecular aberrations in patient tumors in routine practice, our ability to further personalize therapy in lung adenocarcinoma is rapidly expanding.