The coevolutionary landscape of drug resistance in epidermal growth factor receptor: A cancer perspective.

Summary: Lung cancer is often treated with drugs that target a specific protein called EGFR. These medicines work very well at first, but within a year, the cancer usually figures out how to beat them. This study looked at how the cancer protein changes its shape to survive. Using computer models, researchers saw that the protein's "pocket" gets bigger, which makes the drug fall out or stop fitting correctly. Understanding these shape changes can help scientists design better, stronger medicines to fight cancer in the future.