Search

Background: This is the first report of long-term (>10 years) safety, tolerability, and survival data on patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received treatment with gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor.Methods: Patients with advanced NSCLC (N = 191) who entered the IRESSA Clinical Access Program (ICAP) (June 2011 to January 2013) and had previously obtained a clinical benefit from gefitinib therapy (including patients who had received gefitinib since 2001) were analyzed for adverse events (AEs). A subset of patients (n = 79) underwent retrospective chart review to capture demographic, safety, and survival data.Results: Seventy-five of 191 patients (39%) remained on long-term gefitinib therapy as of September 2016. Overall, serious AEs (SAEs) were reported in 64 patients (34%), the majority of which were attributed to underlying disease or comorbidities; only 3 patients (1.6%) had SAEs that were considered as possibly gefitinib-related. In the retrospective chart review cohort, 70% of patients were women; 58% were former smokers, and 30% were never-smokers; 56% were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, and 13% were diagnosed with squamous carcinoma. Although EGFR mutational status was tested in only 17 patients (22%), it was assumed that most tumors were EGFR-mutation-positive. The median duration of gefitinib therapy was 11.1 years (7.8 years before and 3.5 years during ICAP), with 10-year and 15-year survival rates of 86% and 59%, respectively, from the initiation of therapy.Conclusions: A subset of long-term NSCLC survivors who were receiving gefitinib had an excellent long-term safety profile. Although it is assumed that most of these patients' tumors harbor EGFR mutations, molecular studies of available tumor specimens are planned to uncover the features that predict long-term survival. Cancer 2018;124:2407-14. © 2018 American Cancer Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The ISEL (Iressa Survival Evaluation in Lung Cancer) clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of gefitinib versus placebo in pretreated nonsmall-cell lung cancer patients. Two different antibodies, scoring systems, and cutoff points of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) protein expression were compared to predict response and survival of enrolled patients.Methods: EGFR expression was assessed in tumor samples by immunohistochemistry using the Dako EGFR pharmDx kit (scoring percent of tumor cells with positive staining) and Zymed monoclonal antibody clone 31G7 (scoring staining index derived from proportion of positive cells times staining intensity).Results: Data for EGFR expression were available for 379 patients for Dako and 357 patients for Zymed antibody (22% and 21%, respectively, of trial population). Objective response rates in gefitinib-treated EGFR-positive patients defined with various cutpoints with Dako antibody varied between 8% and 12%, and with Zymed antibody between 10% and 13%. Lower cutoff points with Dako antibody provided the best discrimination between EGFR-positive and EGFR-negative patients for survival hazard ratios comparing gefitinib to placebo, with a significant treatment/cutoff point interaction for 10% cutoff point (P = .049). A similar but less apparent trend was noted for Zymed antibody, although the discrimination between hazard ratios was not significant for any cutoff point analyzed.Conclusions: Assessment with the Dako PharmDx kit and percentage of cells with positive staining may provide more accurate prediction of differential effect on survival with gefitinib than assessment with Zymed antibody and staining index. Using higher cutpoints to define positivity does not improve test discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxanes, paclitaxel, and docetaxel have become the cornerstone of both first-line and second-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recently, several pivotal phase III randomized trials have been published. These studies and phase II trials will be discussed. Additionally, studies utilizing a taxane and radiation therapy for resectable and locally advanced NSCLC will be outlined. The article will end with a discussion on newer strategies being currently explored to improve survival in advanced NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors offer observation on a study which examined whether a survival advantage was observed among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent broad-based genomic sequencing. Topics discussed include advantage of the introduction of molecular directed tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune therapies for NSCLC therapy, and reasons the study should not lead to the conclusion that broad-based genomic sequencing should be avoided in nonsquamous NSCLC.