Clinical surrogate markers of survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with second-third line erlotinib.
BACKGROUND
Inhibition of the EGFR pathway is a useful strategy in the treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC. The aim of this study is to assess predictive clinical parameters of efficacy.


METHODS
Sixty-two patients with advanced NSCLC were treated with erlotinib as second-third line (150 mg/day). Baseline patient characteristics were: performance status (PS) 1: 92%; median age, 58 years; males, 73%; adenocarcinoma, 45%; current/former smokers, 83%. During erlotinib treatment, 35% of patients had no rash, 32.3% had grade 1 rash, 26% had grade 2 rash and 6.5% patients developed grade 3 rash.


RESULTS
For patients with grades 2-3 rash vs. those with grades 0-1 rash, time to tumor progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were 92 vs. 41 days (p=0.0381) and 244 vs. 131 days (p=0.011), respectively. For patients with non-smoking history and current/former smokers, TTP and OS were 136 vs. 42 days (p=0.0015) and 324 vs. 133 days (p=0.0242), respectively. In addition, rash grade and smoking history were found to have a highly significant impact on TTP and OS, according to the Cox model.


CONCLUSIONS
Grade > or =2 rash and non-smoking history are associated with improved TTP and OS in advanced NSCLC patients treated with erlotinib.
Cedrés
Susana
S
Medical Oncology Service, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
Prat
Aleix
A
Martínez
Pablo
P
Pallisa
Esther
E
Sala
Gemma
G
Andreu
Jordi
J
del Campo
J M
JM
Quispe
Isela
I
Baselga
José
J
Felip
Enriqueta
E
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011799:Quinazolines; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride