This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cho, B. C. Articles by Kim, J. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cho, B. C. Articles by Kim, J. H. Related Articles Related Correspondence

Phase II Study of Erlotinib in Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer After Failure of Gefitinib

Byoung Chul Cho, Chong-Kun Im, Moo-Suk Park, Se Kyu Kim, Joon Chang, Jong Pil Park, Hye Jin Choi, Yu Jin Kim, Sang-Joon Shin, Joo Hyuk Sohn, Hoguen Kim, Joo Hang Kim

From the Yonsei Cancer Center; Department of Internal Medicine; Lung Cancer Clinic Severance Hospital; and the Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Joo Hang Kim, MD, PhD, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemun-gu shinchon-dong 134, Seoul, Korea; e-mail: kjhang{at}yumc.yonsei.ac.kr

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of erlotinib in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who experienced disease progression after treatment with gefitinib.

Patients and Methods: The study included stage IIIB/IV recurrent or metastatic NSCLC patients who received two or three prior chemotherapy regimens and showed progressive disease within 4 months of gefitinib therapy discontinuation. Patients received erlotinib 150 mg/d until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and other genetic abnormalities were analyzed from available tumor samples.

Results: Patient and disease characteristics (N = 21) included median age 56 years; number of prior chemotherapy regimens (three; n = 11); female sex (n = 11); adenocarcinoma (n = 15); and never-smoker status (n = 11). Among the 17 patients with tumor samples available, EGFR mutations were detected in five. The disease control rate (DCR) and response rate (RR) for all patients were 28.6% and 9.5%, respectively. The median duration of disease control was 125 days. The median time to progression and overall survival were 60 days and 158 days, respectively. Patients who had stable disease (SD) while receiving gefitinib showed significantly higher DCR (75% v 17.6% in non-SD patients; P = .050) and RR (50.0% v 0% in non-SD patients; P = .029). Among 17 patients with biomarker results available, those lacking EGFR mutations who had SD while receiving gefitinib showed significantly higher DCR and RR.

Conclusion: Erlotinib seems to be a potential therapeutic option for the treatment of advanced NSCLC patients with wild-type EGFR who had SD while receiving gefitinib.

B.C.C. and C.-K.I. contributed equally to this work.

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.

Related Correspondence

• Differential Responses to Erlotinib in Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)-Mutated Lung Cancers With Acquired Resistance to Gefitinib Carrying the L747S or T790M Secondary Mutations
  Daniel B. Costa, Susan T. Schumer, Daniel G. Tenen, and Susumu Kobayashi
  JCO 2008 26: 1182-1184 [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. H. Lee, S.-W. Kim, C. Suh, D. H. Yoon, E. J. Yi, and J.-S. Lee Phase II study of erlotinib as a salvage treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer patients after failure of gefitinib treatment Ann. Onc., July 21, 2008; (2008) mdn423v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. B. Costa, S. T. Schumer, D. G. Tenen, and S. Kobayashi Differential Responses to Erlotinib in Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)-Mutated Lung Cancers With Acquired Resistance to Gefitinib Carrying the L747S or T790M Secondary Mutations J. Clin. Oncol., March 1, 2008; 26(7): 1182 - 1184. [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. C. Cho and J. H. Kim In Reply J. Clin. Oncol., March 1, 2008; 26(7): 1184 - 1186. [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. A. Bunn Jr Can Acquired Resistance to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Be Overcome by Different Small-Molecule Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors? J. Clin. Oncol., June 20, 2007; 25(18): 2504 - 2505. [Full Text] [PDF]