KRAS mutant lung cancer: progress thus far on an elusive therapeutic target

The KRAS mutation remains the most common driver mutation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and confers a poor prognosis. Thus far, efforts to target this mutation over the last two decades have been unsuccessful. Over the past 5 years, many efforts to develop drugs that target the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK (MAPK) pathway have resulted in enhanced understanding of the KRAS mutant NSCLC and have provided optimism that this disease can be targeted.