title: Duration of prior gefitinib treatment predicts survival potential in patients with lung adenocarcinoma receiving subsequent erlotinib.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated survival potential in patients receiving erlotinib after failure of gefitinib, focusing on response and time to progression (TTP) with gefitinib.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed lung adenocarcinoma patients who received erlotinib after experiencing progression with gefitinib. Our primary objective was to evaluate the prognostic significance of erlotinib therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total 42 lung adenocarcinoma patients were included in this study. Overall disease control rate was 59.5% (partial response [PR], 2.4%; stable disease [SD], 57.1%). Median overall survival was 7.1 months, and median progression-free survival was 3.4 months. The number of patients who achieved PR and non-PR (SD+ progressive disease [PD]) with gefitinib were 22 (52%) and 20 (48%), respectively. Patients with PR for gefitinib showed significantly longer survival times than those with non-PR (9.2 vs. 4.7 months; p=0.014). In particular, among PR patients, those with TTP <12 months on gefitinib showed significantly longer survival times than those with TTP ≥12 months (10.3 vs. 6.4 months; p=0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Erlotinib may exert survival benefit for lung adenocarcinoma patients with less than 12 months of TTP of prior gefitinib who achieved PR for gefitinib.
authors.affiliation: Kinki-chuo Chest Medical Center, 1180 Nagasone-cho, Kita-ku, Sakai City, Osaka 591-8555, Japan. kazu.taizo@nifty.com
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Asami
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Atagi
authors.forename: Tomoya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.forename: Kyoichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okishio
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D000077192:Adenocarcinoma of Lung; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D005260:Female; D000077156:Gefitinib; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009154:Mutation; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011799:Quinazolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D011799:Quinazolines; D000069347:Erlotinib Hydrochloride; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D000077156:Gefitinib