EGFR and cancer: The discovery of agents with the ability to antagonize EGFR functions in cancer cells, such as the monoclonal antibody cetuximab (Erbitux, ImClone Systems Inc) and the specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) gefitinib (Iressa, AstraZeneca, UK) and erlotinib (Tarceva, OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc) have heightened the clinical interest in this growth factor receptor (14,15).