The Occupational and Environmental Respiratory Exposome as a Potential Modulator of Adaptive Resistance to EGFR and...

Targeted therapies directed against oncogenic drivers have substantially improved outcomes for patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite high initial response rates, most patients ultimately develop acquired resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), reflecting complex biological adaptations under therapeutic pressure.

This narrative review synthesizes experimental, translational, and clinical studies examining how environmental and occupational respiratory exposures may influence resistance mechanisms in EGFR- and ALK-driven NSCLC. The review emphasizes exposure-associated signaling plasticity, inflammatory microenvironmental modulation, metabolic reprogramming, and pharmacokinetic alterations.

Recent evidence suggests that respiratory exposures, including cigarette smoke, air pollution, diesel exhaust, and occupational inhalational toxicants, can modulate oncogenic signaling networks relevant to resistance to targeted therapies. These mechanisms include aberrant EGFR activation, bypass signaling through the mesenchymal-epithelial transition receptor (MET) and SRC pathways, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), adaptive kinome remodeling, and exposure-associated inflammatory signaling, all of which may influence tumor evolution and therapeutic response.

This review introduces a novel exposome-driven conceptual framework integrating environmental exposures with signaling plasticity and resistance evolution in oncogene-driven NSCLC. These findings support the concept that the respiratory exposome may represent an underrecognized modifier of targeted therapy response. Incorporating structured exposure assessment into precision oncology approaches may refine risk stratification and inform exposure-aware therapeutic strategies.