Gefitinib for advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

This systematic review shows that gefitinib, when compared with standard first- or second-line chemotherapy or maintenance therapy, probably has a beneficial effect on progression-free survival and quality of life in selected patient populations, particularly those with tumours bearing sensitising EGFR mutations.Patients with EGFR mutations lived longer when given maintenance gefitinib than those given placebo.One study conducted subgroup analysis and showed that gefitinib improved overall survival over placebo in the second-line setting in patients of Asian ethnicity. All other studies did not detect any benefit on overall survival. The data analysed in this review were very heterogenous. We were limited in the amount of data that could be pooled, largely due to variations in study design. The risk of bias in most studies was moderate, with some studies not adequately addressing potential selection, attrition and reporting bias. This heterogeneity may have an impact on the applicability of the resultsCombining gefitinib with chemotherapy appears to be superior in improving progression-free survival to either gefitinib or chemotherapy alone, however further data and phase III studies in these settings are required.Gefitinib has a favourable toxicity profile when compared with current chemotherapy regimens. Although there is no improvement in overall survival, gefitinib compares favourably with cytotoxic chemotherapy in patients with EGFR mutations with a prolongation of progression-free survival and a lesser side effect profile.

The role of growth factor receptors in viral infections: An opportunity for drug repurposing against emerging viral diseases such as COVID‐19?

“…54 First-generation EGFR TKIs, such as Gefitinib and Erlotinib, reversibly bind to EGFRs, thereby improving the survival of patients with lung cancer which harbor EGFR-activating mutations. 55 Second-generation EGFR TKIs, such as Afatinib and Dacomitinib, irreversibly bind to such receptors and show an increased cellular potency against EGFR oncogenic variants. 56 Several anti-GFR TKIs, including those targeting more specifically HER2, TrkA, and PDGFR, have already been shown to block multiple steps of the replication of both influenza virus 45 and dengue virus.…”

Cryptotanshinone Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis of NSCLC Cells through the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β Pathway

“…EGFR-TKIs therapies show considerable promise, but people who use docetaxel or cisplatin to treat EGFR antigens exhibit a drug resistance to EGFR-TKIs, and they also have the significant side effect of excessive cytotoxicity. These negative side effects are clear in all EGFR-TKIs, but one of them, Gefitinib (GF), prolongs progression-free survival with acceptable toxicity, compared to other standard chemotherapy agents [ 14 , 15 ]. Therefore, we selected GF as a comparative group.…”

Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-Targeted Cancer Therapy

“…Several EGFR TKIs are currently available for cancer treatment [ 85 ]. Reversible, first-generation EGFR-TKIs (gefitinib and erlotinib) clinically improved the prognosis of patients with NSCLC harboring EGFR -activating mutations (exon 19 15-base pair deletion and exon 21 L858R) [ 86 , 87 ]. Irreversible, second-generation EGFR TKIs (afatinib and dacomitinib) showed an increased cellular potency against EGFR oncogenic variants (e.g., EGFR-L858R/T790M) [ 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 ].…”