Icotinib is as efficacious as gefitinib for brain metastasis of EGFR mutated non-small-cell lung cancer

Abstract

Background: The prognosis of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases is very poor. Currently, therapeutic methods for this patient population include whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT), surgery, radiosurgery and systemic treatment. Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) could be effective on cerebral metastases of mutated NSCLC. However, which EGFR-TKIs is more appropriate is still unknown. Methods: A total of 43 patients were recruit in this study. Patients received either icotinib (125 mg, thrice a day) or gefitinib (250 mg, once a day) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point of this study was PFS. The relationships between therapeutic arms and patients characteristics were performed using Pearson’s chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. The differences in PFS among the two arms were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank tests. Results: There was no significant difference of intracranial ORR (66.6% versus 59.1%, P =0.62) and DCR (85.7% versus 81.8%, P =0.73) between the two arms. The median intracranial PFS (iPFS) for icotinib and gefitinib arms were 8.4 months (95% CI, 5.4 to 11.3 months) and 10.6 months (95% CI, 6.3 to 14.8 months), respectively (P =0.17). Adverse events of the two study arms were generally mild. None of the patients experienced dose reduction of EGFR-TKIs. Conclusions: Our study showed that icotinib and gefitinib had similar efficacy for brain metastasis of EGFR mutated NSCLC. Large randomized studies are suggested to further illuminate the effect of these two EGFR-TKIs on cerebral lesions of NSCLC.