EGFR and cancer: The EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) have become an important focus for tumor-related drug development (Xu et al., 2016), such as small-molecule targeted drugs (Maemondo et al., 2010; Horiike et al., 2014; Liang et al., 2014; Choi et al., 2015), monoclonal antibodies (Hudis, 2007; Jonker et al., 2014; Pietrantonio et al. 2013) and cancer vaccines (Guo et al., 2013; Ahmed & Bae, 2014).