title: Observational study on the efficacy and safety of erlotinib in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of erlotinib for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we performed a population-based observational study. The study involved 307 patients treated with erlotinib at 14 sites (17 departments) in Ibaraki (Japan) between December 2007 and December 2010. The tumor response and disease control rates were 11.1 and 46.3% in all patients, respectively. The median time to treatment failure and survival time were 1.6 months (95% confidence interval, 41-57 days) and 5.3 months (134-181 days) in all patients, respectively. Survival was significantly prolonged in EGFR mutation-positive patients compared with negative patients. EGFR mutation-negative patients who presented with a skin rash had significantly prolonged survival compared with those without a skin rash. The most common adverse event was skin disorder, followed by diarrhea. Although 45.6% of the patients in this study received erlotinib as a fourth-line or subsequent treatment, the results from this study were similar to those of clinical studies. We deduce that erlotinib is effective against NSCLC and is tolerated in clinical practice.
authors: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital and Regional Cancer Center, Kasama 309-1793;
authors: Takayuki
authors: T
authors: Kaburagi
authors: Hiroaki
authors: H
authors: Satoh
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Hayashihara
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Endo
authors: Nobuyuki
authors: N
authors: Hizawa
authors: Koichi
authors: K
authors: Kurishima
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Nishimura
authors: Toshio
authors: T
authors: Hashimoto
authors: Hiroyuki
authors: H
authors: Nakamura
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Kishi
authors: Masaharu
authors: M
authors: Inagaki
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Nawa
authors: Hideo
authors: H
authors: Ichimura
authors: Hiroichi
authors: H
authors: Ishikawa
authors: Katsunori
authors: K
authors: Kagohashi
authors: Toshihiko
authors: T
authors: Fukuoka
authors: Yoko
authors: Y
authors: Shinohara
authors: Koichi
authors: K
authors: Kamiyama
authors: Yukio
authors: Y
authors: Sato
authors: Mitsuaki
authors: M
authors: Sakai
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Matsumura
authors: Keiko
authors: K
authors: Uchiumi
authors: Kinya
authors: K
authors: Furukawa
keywords: erlotinib; non-small cell lung cancer; observational study; population-based