Erlotinib

Key points

• Smoking can lower the amount of erlotinib in your blood, so stopping before and during treatment matters for the medicine to work as intended.
• Before starting Tarceva for lung cancer, your oncologist will test for an EGFR activating mutation, since the drug targets that specific change in tumour cells.
• Tarceva blocks a growth signal on tumour cells rather than attacking all fast-dividing tissue, which is how it differs from standard chemotherapy.

How does Erlotinib work?

Erlotinib belongs to a group of medicines called EGFR inhibitors. It blocks epidermal growth factor receptors on the surface of tumour cells, cutting off the messages those cells need to multiply and spread. This targeted approach acts on a specific change in the cancer rather than affecting healthy tissue the way chemotherapy does.

In Oncology Support listings, Tarceva appears as a single 100 mg tablet. The dose can be reduced in 50 mg steps if side effects require adjustment, and the most common effects are rash, diarrhoea and tiredness.

Further reading

• Tarceva | European Medicines Agency (EMA)
• Targeted Drug Therapy for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer | American Cancer Society