The introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) that specifically target mutant EGFR marked the start of the personalized medicine revolution in the treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nowadays, osimertinib has become the standard of care first line treatment in this setting. However, also with this third generation EGFR-TKI, patients will eventually relapse, underscoring the need for alternative treatment strategies that can prevent or delay treatment resistance. In this respect, several studies assessing first- and second-generation EGFR-TKIs indicated a benefit of combining these agents with chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC. More recently, data from the phase III FLAURA-2 study showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival with the first line combination of osimertinib and platinum-pemetrexed over osimertinib monotherapy, with a manageable safety profile. This mini review provides an overview of the clinical data with EGFR-TKI plus chemotherapy combinations in the treatment of patients with previously untreated, advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC, with particular attention for the FLAURA-2 data.
