[Gefitinib treatment in lung cancer -- rebiopsy, retreatment, remission]

The authors present a case of a 81-year-old non-smoker woman who was diagnosed with extended, bilateral bronchial adenocarcinoma in 2008. Two years later the tumor showed marked progression. EGFR sensitizing mutation (exon 19 deletion) was detected and gefitinib treatment was started in March 2010. After 12 months of spectacular and complete remission and 8 months of slow progression docetaxel therapy was applied and yielded partial remission. When progression redeveloped rebiopsy was performed and revealed EGFR exon 19 deletion again. Gefitinib retreatment was introduced in February 2013 and resulted in partial remission with excellent clinical status. In March, 2014 the patient is still on gefitinib treatment without any signs or symptoms of lung cancer but with very slow radiological progression. The authors overview the most important theoretical and practical questions regarding rebiopsy and retreatment in lung cancer with EGFR-TKI therapy.