Afatinib is a drug approved in much of the world for the treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung carcinoma(NSCLC), developed by Boehringer Ingelheim. It acts as anangiokinase inhibitor. It has received regulatory approval for use as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, although there is emerging evidence to support its use in other cancers such as breast cancer. Like lapatinib and neratinib, afatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that also irreversibly inhibits human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinases. Afatinib is not only active against EGFR mutations targeted by first generation TKIs like erlotinib or gefitinib, but also against those not sensitive to these standard therapies.[citation needed] Because of its additional activity against Her2, it is being investigated for breast cancer as well as other EGFR and Her2 driven cancers.
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