[Gefitinib in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastasis].
OBJECTIVE
Brain metastasis is frequently found in patient with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Gefitinib is a inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor and can be used for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the antitumor efficacy of Gefitinib in advanced NSCLC patients with brain metastasis.


METHODS
Forty-four consecutive NSCLC patients with brain metastases were treated with gefitinib, which was administered orally at daily dose of 250 mg. Of these patients, 30 had been treated with WBRT and 42 received chemotherapy one month before enrolled into the study.


RESULTS
Partial response (PR) was observed in 14 patients (31.8%), stable disease (SD) in 21 (47.7%) with an overall disease control rate of 79.5%. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 9 months and median overall survival (OS) was 13.0 months. The difference in disease control rate between the patients who had previous WBRT and those without was not significant (P = 0.566). The toxicity is mild and tolerable.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data shows that Gefitinib is safe and may be effective on brain metastasis, which may become an alternative treatment option for the patient with advanced NSCLC.
Wu
Chi
C
Department of Respiratory diseases, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Li
Long-Yun
LY
Wang
Meng-Zhao
MZ
Zhang
Li
L
Zhang
Xiao-Tong
XT
Zhong
Wei
W
Wang
Shu-Lan
SL
Wang
Hua-Zhu
HZ
D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D005076:Exanthema / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D000077156:Gefitinib; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015996:Survival Rate
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011799:Quinazolines; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D000077156:Gefitinib