Efficacy and safety of Erlotinib in the treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer in Chinese patients / 中华肿瘤杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the efficacy and the adverse effects of erlotinib in the treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Chinese patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From November 2005 to March 2009, a total of 519 patients with unresectable, local advanced, relapsed or metastatic NSCLC were enrolled in the trial. All the patients were treated with erlotinib 150 mg/day until disease progression or intolerable toxicity or for other reasons. The response rate, time to disease progression, overall survival and toxicity were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of these 519 patients, 1 case had complete response, 127 cases had partial response and 263 cases had stable disease, resulting in an overall response rate (CR + PR) of 26.7%, disease stable rate of 54.9% and disease control rate (CR + PR + SD) of 81.6%. The median time to progression was 6.44 months and median overall survival was 15.37 months. The major erlotinib treatment-related adverse events (AE) were mild (CTC AE 1/2), only 3 cases had severe adverse effect, 1 case had interstitial lung disease and died of respiratory failure.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The study presents excellent response rates, time to progression and overall survival of erlotinib treatment for advanced NSCLC in Chinese patients, and its adverse events are tolerable.</p>