Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
The leading cause of death from malignant tumors worldwide is lung cancer. Before the development of molecularly targeted therapy, chemotherapy with platinum-based doublets was considered as the standard first-line treatment in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The introduction o...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2015-09-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Cancer Research and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2311300616300763 |
| _version_ | 1811331492523016192 |
|---|---|
| author | Yung-Hung Luo Yu-Chin Lee Jacqueline Whang-Peng Yuh-Min Chen |
| author_facet | Yung-Hung Luo Yu-Chin Lee Jacqueline Whang-Peng Yuh-Min Chen |
| author_sort | Yung-Hung Luo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The leading cause of death from malignant tumors worldwide is lung cancer. Before the development of molecularly targeted therapy, chemotherapy with platinum-based doublets was considered as the standard first-line treatment in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The introduction of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) has led to remarkable advances in the treatment of NSCLC. Two activating EGFR mutations (Exon 19 deletion and Exon 21 L858R mutation) have been correlated with dramatic responses to EGFR-TKI. Every effort should be made to identify the EGFR mutation status in NSCLC patients prior to the initial systemic treatment in order to select those who are most likely to benefit from EGFR-TKIs. At the present time, first-generation EGFR-TKIs are available for clinical use, including gefitinib and erlotinib. Gefitinib was the first drug developed as an EGFR-TKI for NSCLC treatment. Several randomized phase III studies revealed that gefitinib provided superior response rate, improved PFS, and less toxicity compared with doublet chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC with activating EGFR mutation. Currently, first-line treatment with gefitinib is used in metastatic NSCLC patients with tumor EGFR mutation. Gefitinib is also administered as salvage therapy for NSCLC patients previously treated with chemotherapy. The standard of care for previously untreated patients with EGFR mutation-negative or unknown status still remains platinum-based chemotherapy. In this article, we have reviewed the relevant clinical data regarding gefitinib as a molecularly targeted therapy for NSCLC. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:21:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f0f3f6c44ed2464199efe26f3aa99af3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-3006 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:21:21Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Cancer Research and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-f0f3f6c44ed2464199efe26f3aa99af32022-12-22T02:39:56ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Cancer Research and Practice2311-30062015-09-012317919410.6323/JCRP.2015.2.3.01Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung CancerYung-Hung Luo0Yu-Chin Lee1Jacqueline Whang-Peng2Yuh-Min Chen3Chest Medicine Division of Medicine Department, Fenglin Branch, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, TaiwanDepartment of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanTaipei Cancer Center, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, TaiwanThe leading cause of death from malignant tumors worldwide is lung cancer. Before the development of molecularly targeted therapy, chemotherapy with platinum-based doublets was considered as the standard first-line treatment in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The introduction of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) has led to remarkable advances in the treatment of NSCLC. Two activating EGFR mutations (Exon 19 deletion and Exon 21 L858R mutation) have been correlated with dramatic responses to EGFR-TKI. Every effort should be made to identify the EGFR mutation status in NSCLC patients prior to the initial systemic treatment in order to select those who are most likely to benefit from EGFR-TKIs. At the present time, first-generation EGFR-TKIs are available for clinical use, including gefitinib and erlotinib. Gefitinib was the first drug developed as an EGFR-TKI for NSCLC treatment. Several randomized phase III studies revealed that gefitinib provided superior response rate, improved PFS, and less toxicity compared with doublet chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC with activating EGFR mutation. Currently, first-line treatment with gefitinib is used in metastatic NSCLC patients with tumor EGFR mutation. Gefitinib is also administered as salvage therapy for NSCLC patients previously treated with chemotherapy. The standard of care for previously untreated patients with EGFR mutation-negative or unknown status still remains platinum-based chemotherapy. In this article, we have reviewed the relevant clinical data regarding gefitinib as a molecularly targeted therapy for NSCLC.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2311300616300763gefitinibnon-small cell lung cancerepidermal growth factor receptortyrosine kinase inhibitor |
| spellingShingle | Yung-Hung Luo Yu-Chin Lee Jacqueline Whang-Peng Yuh-Min Chen Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Journal of Cancer Research and Practice gefitinib non-small cell lung cancer epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor |
| title | Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| title_full | Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| title_fullStr | Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| title_short | Critical Appraisal of Gefitinib in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| title_sort | critical appraisal of gefitinib in the treatment of non small cell lung cancer |
| topic | gefitinib non-small cell lung cancer epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2311300616300763 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yunghungluo criticalappraisalofgefitinibinthetreatmentofnonsmallcelllungcancer AT yuchinlee criticalappraisalofgefitinibinthetreatmentofnonsmallcelllungcancer AT jacquelinewhangpeng criticalappraisalofgefitinibinthetreatmentofnonsmallcelllungcancer AT yuhminchen criticalappraisalofgefitinibinthetreatmentofnonsmallcelllungcancer |