Efficacy of Gefitinib, an Inhibitor of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, in Symptomatic Patients With Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

ORE PERSONS IN THE United States die from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than from breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer combined. 1 Each year, more than 60000 persons develop stages IIIB and IV NSCLC; nearly all go on to die from metastatic spread. In addition, most individuals experience symptoms caused directly by lung cancer. These symptoms are often the first manifestations of the illness and increase in frequency and severity as the disease progresses. Cough, shortness of breath, weight loss, loss of appetite, and chest tightness impair the quality of lives already cut short by NSCLC. For patients with advanced lung cancer, physical well-being and changes in quality of life correlate with survival. 2 Espe-Author Affiliations and Financial Disclosures are listed at the end of this article.

A Phase I Dose-Escalation Study of ZD6474 in Japanese Patients with Solid, Malignant Tumors

“…Rash may be a consequence of EGFR inhibition, with the consideration that dose-dependent development of rash was reported in studies of other EGFR inhibitors, erlotinib 25 and gefitinib. 26,27 Because different types of rash, including erythema and photosensitivity, were observed in this study, it seems that the rash induced by ZD6474 may be more varied and systematic than was reported with those EGFR inhibitors.…”

Molecular pathology of lung cancer: key to personalized medicine

“…176 These disappointing outcomes may reflect the fact that the majority of lung cancers are EGFR-mutation negative. Moreover, the outcomes may also be related to evidence that some EGFR mutations not only activate EGFR tyrosine kinase and drive cancer cells to grow, but are also associated with resistance to current EGFR TKI therapy.…”

Overview of molecular testing in non-small-cell lung cancer: mutational analysis, gene copy number, protein expression and other biomarkers of EGFR for the prediction of response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors

“…The mutations are more common in adenocarcinomas, in persons of East Asian ethnicity, women and in never smokers. These phenotypic features had already been marked as clinical predictors of response to TKIs before the discovery of the mutations (Fukuoka et al, 2003;Kris et al, 2003). The prevalence of EGFR mutations varies by ethnicity with ranges from 20-40% in Asian populations (Huang et al, 2004;Kosaka et al, 2004;Han et al, 2005;Shigematsu et al, 2005;Tokumo et al, 2005) to 5-20% among Caucasians (Cappuzzo et al, 2005;Marchetti et al, 2005).…”