Novel mechanisms by which the molecular target drug gefitinib suppresses cancer cell invasion

Abstract

Gefitinib is a molecular target cancer drug that inhibits tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). However, accumulating evidence indicates that gefitinib has other targets besides EGFR. In this study, we found that gefitinib-induced suppression of cancer cell migration and invasion is strongly suppressed in p62/SQSTM1 and neighbor of BRCA1 (NBR1) double-deficient but not EGFR-deficient cells. Therefore, our results indicate that gefitinib inhibits cancer cell migration and invasion through the p62 and NBR1-, but not EGFR-dependent mechanisms.