Abstract
There is no dedicated study on second-line treatment for elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We report the results on second-line erlotinib therapy from our previously published Phase III study comparing single-agent therapy withplatin-based doublet (carboplatin + paclitaxel) therapy in 451elderly patients.
Erlotinib was given to patients exhibiting disease progression (PD) or experiencing excessive toxicity during first-line therapy, until further PD or non-acceptable toxicity.
In total, 292 (64.7%) patients received erlotinib in second-line. Initial performance status (PS) 0–1, Stage IV NSCLC, and ADL6 were independent factors for receiving erlotinib. Median overall survival was 4 months (95% CI: 3.2–6.7) vs. 6.8 months (95% CI: 5.0–8.3) in single-agent arm and doublet arm, respectively(p=0.089). PS 0–1, never-smoking, adenocarcinoma, and weight loss ≤5% were favorable independent prognostic factors of survival, whereas the randomization arm had no significant impact. Among the 292 patients who received erlotinib, 60 (20.5%) experienced Grade 3–4 toxic effects, the most frequent beingrash.
Erlotinib as second-line therapy is feasible, leading to efficacy results similar to those obtained in a previous randomized study that was not dedicated to elderly patients, with acceptable toxicity.
- ERS