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Erlotinib provided benefit in EGFR-mutant NSCLC
Patients with advanced non–small lung cancer who harbored EGFR mutations demonstrated greater benefit from treatment with daily erlotinib than EGFR wild-type patients, according to results of a prospective study.
Researchers in Denmark evaluated 480 patients with advanced NSCLC who received 150 mg daily erlotinib (Tarceva, Genentech) as second-line treatment. Treatment continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Seven percent of patients were never smokers. PFS served as the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcomes were OS and overall response.
EGFR status was available for 462 patients. Of them, 12% had EGFR mutations. They included exon 19 deletions (n=33), exon 21 mutations (n=13), exon 18 mutations (n=5), exon 20 insertions (n=3), exon 20 point mutations (n=1) and complex mutations (n=2).
Researchers reported longer median PFS (8 months vs. 2.5 months) and OS (12.1 months vs. 3.9 months) for patients with EGFR mutations (P<.001 for both).
“The outcome after treatment with erlotinib was much better in patients with EGFR mutations than in patients with wild-type EGFR and was independent of performance status and treatment line in EGFR-mutated patients,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of the researchers’ disclosures.