Background: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of erlotinib as the first-line therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: A total of 28 pathologically-confirmed NSCLC patients who could not receive willingly or tolerate traditional cytotoxic drugs chemotherapy were enrolled. Erlotinib was orally administered 150 mg daily until disease progression or the occurrence of intolerable toxicity.
Results: Among a total of 28 patients, the objective response rate (ORR) of erlotinib was 28.6%. The disease control rate (DCR) was 60.7%. The rate of symptom relief was 53.6%. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 3.2 (95%CI: 0.851-5.585) months. The median overall survival (OS) was 9.6 (95%CI: 7.179-12.021) months. One-year survival rate was 32.1%. The therapeutic effect was better in patients with rash. Most of the toxicities were grade I and grade II toxicity. The most common adverse events were rash (46.4%), diarrhea (32.1%), skin dry (25.0%), anorexia(17.9%), fatigue (10.7%) and increased transaminase (7.1%).
Conclusions: Erlotinib provided another choice for the patients who could not willingly receive or tolerate chemotherapy.