Combined survival analysis of prospective clinical trials of gefitinib for non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations

Purpose: Somatic mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene are associated with an increased response to gefitinib in patients with non - small cell lung cancer.We have examined the impact of gefitinib on progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with EGFR mutation - positive non - small cell lungca ncer. Experimental Design:We searched for all clinical trials that prospectively evaluated the efficacy of gefitinib for advanced non - small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations in Japan.We did a combined analysis based on individual patient data from the identified trials. Results: Seven eligible trialswere identified for a total of148 non - small cell lung cancer patients with EGFR mutations.The overall response rate to gefitinib was 76.4% [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 69.5-83.2].Themedian progression-free survival and overall survivalwere 9.7 months (95% CI, 8.2-11.1) and 24.3 months (95% CI,19.8-28.2), respectively. Good performance status and chemotherapy-naïve status were significantly associated with a longer progression-free survival or overall survival. Of the 148 patients, 87 received gefitinib as a first-line therapy, whereas 61received systemic chemotherapy before gefitinib treatment.The median progression-free survival after the start of first-line therapy was significantly longer in the gefitinib-first group than in the chemotherapy-first group (10.7 versus 6.0 months; P < 0.001), whereas no significant difference inmedian overall survival was apparent between the two groups (27.7 versus 25.7 months; P = 0.782). Conclusions: Gefitinib monotherapy confers substantial clinical benefit in terms of progressionfree survival and overall survival in non - small cell lungca ncer patients with EGFR mutations. Randomized trials comparingc hemotherapy with gefitinib as a first-line treatment are warranted in such patients.