A positive response to Tarceva of T790m mutation - 1270601

dando
Posts:11

My wife has a lung cancer, EGFR positive. A few mutations were detected including T790M.
After a treatment of 3 months with Tarceva, PET-CT indicated that the canceractivity stopped.
My question is- T790M is considered as resistant to Tarceva. Did the results of the PET-CT showed that in the case of my wife the T790M responded to the tarceva or the T790 may begin its activity later.
Thank you.

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JimC
Posts: 2753

Hi dando,

Welcome to GRACE. Congratulations to you and your wife on her good response to Tarceva. It's difficult to be certain what happened, but one likely scenario is that among the other mutations was a sensitizing mutation, one which indicates good response to Tarceva. If a large proportion of the cancer cells bear this mutation, and relatively few have the T790M mutation, Tarceva is effective against most of the cancer cells. If her cancer becomes resistant to Tarceva as a result of the T790M mutation, there are next-generation EGFR inhibitors which target that mutation. These are currently being tested in clinical trials.

I hope that your wife's response to Tarceva continues for a long time!

JimC
Forum moderator