Prolonged control of bone metastases in non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with gefitinib

Lung Cancer. 2008 Jun;60(3):452-4. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2007.11.002. Epub 2008 Feb 20.

Abstract

We describe two non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in which treatment with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs) gefitinib produced a prolonged control of bone disease. In the first patient, a 48-year-old male with adenocarcinoma (ADC) of the lung and multiple bone metastases, the bone scan became completely negative following treatment with gefitinib for 9 months. The patient remained alive and with no evidence of bone metastases for 20 months, despite two local recurrences that were surgically removed. Similarly, the bone scan of the second patient, a 49-year-old male with ADC of the lung and bone metastases, became negative after 6 months on gefitinib. The molecular mechanisms potentially involved in this phenomenon are discussed.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / administration & dosage*
  • Bone Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Bone Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / drug therapy*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / pathology*
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • ErbB Receptors / antagonists & inhibitors
  • ErbB Receptors / genetics
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gefitinib
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mutation
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / surgery
  • Quinazolines / administration & dosage*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Quinazolines
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Gefitinib