Gefitinib in Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer

Patients whose tumors express EGFR mutations benefit more from gefitinib than chemotherapy.

For decades, systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy has been the preferred treatment for patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recent evidence, however, suggests that individuals with advanced NSCLC who have tumors with specific mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene often respond well to treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors of EGFR, such as gefitinib and erlotinib (JW Oncol Hematol Oct 13 2009). To confirm the association between EGFR mutations and treatment outcomes with gefitinib, Japanese investigators randomized 172 patients (age, ≤75) who had stage IIIB/IV NSCLC or postoperative recurrent disease to chemotherapy (cisplatin plus docetaxel) or gefitinib as first-line treatment. All patients had …

Reviewing Author

Lin-Chi Chen, MD, PhD