Publication details
Sequential Treatment of Advanced-stage Lung Adenocarcinoma Harboring Wild-type EGFR Gene: Second-line Pemetrexed Followed by Third-line Erlotinib versus the Reverse Sequence
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Anticancer Research |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Oncology and hematology |
| Keywords | Pemetrexed; erlotinib; adenocarcinoma; NSCLC; second-line; third-line; sequence |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Background: Pemetrexed and erlotinib represent novel agents for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The role of sequential treatment in NSCLC has not been elucidated yet. We compared the efficacy of second-line pemetrexed followed by third-line erlotinib (P-E) to treatment with the reverse sequence (E-P). Patients and Methods: We analyzed data of 57 patients with advanced-stage (IIIB/IV) lung adenocarcinoma harboring wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene; 31 patients were treated with P-E and 26 patients with the E-P sequence. Results: The median progression-free survival (PFS) for patients treated with P-E was 3.6 months vs. 7.8 months for patients treated with E-P (p=0.029). The median overall survival (OS) for patients treated with P-E was 7.9 months vs. 26.3 months for patients treated with E-P (p=0.006). Conclusion: The results proved a significant improvement of both PFS and OS for patients treated with the E-P sequence as compared to the P-E sequence. |