Inhibitors of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and Dermatological Side Effects

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGRF) is expressed highly in a great number of epitelial tumours. The agents that target EGFR are successful drugs in the treatment of various cancers, especially in colorectal, head and neck, lung, breast cancers. Although inhibitors of EGFR are generally well tolerated, due to development of cutaneous side effects, they may cause serious deterioration in quality of ife, changes in optimal doses of antitumoural drugs used and as a result decrease in antitumoural efficiency of relevant drugs. Therefore, dermatologist must be aware of these cutaneous side effects and approriate dermatological treatment approaches to obtain sufficient drug doses for antitumoral efficiency and to prevent the deteoriation in life quality. In this review, cutaneous side effects of inhibitors of EGFR used in the treatment of malignancies and treatment approaches to these cutaneous lesions will be mentioned.