Survival outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with erlotinib : expanded access programme data from Belgium (the TRUST study)

van Meerbeeck, J.; Galdermans, D.; Bustin, F.; De Vos, L.; Lechat, I.; Abraham, I.

doi:10.1111/ECC.12146

Title

Survival outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated with erlotinib : expanded access programme data from Belgium (the TRUST study)

Author

van Meerbeeck, J.

Galdermans, D.

Bustin, F.

De Vos, L.

Lechat, I.

Abraham, I.

Abstract

Erlotinib has been shown to prolong progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We report here on effectiveness data on the subsample of 261 patients from 40 centres in Belgium involved in the TRUST study. Median age was 63 years. Most (69.0%) were male and current/former smokers (84.7%); with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) of 0 or 1 (74.3%), stage IV disease (75.1%) and adenocarcinoma by histology (54.0%). Erlotinib was administered mainly as second- (47.1%) or third-line treatment (48.3%). Response rate was 6.5%; disease control rate 58.3%. Median PFS was 2.2 months. Better PS (P=0.0384), stage IIIB disease (P=0.0018) and presence of rash (P<0.0001) were associated with longer PFS. OS rates at 1, 2 and 3 years were 26.4%, 10.9% and 6.4% respectively. Median OS was 5.9 months. Female gender (P=0.007), better PS (P<0.0001), stage IIIB disease (P=0.0355) and presence of rash (P<0.0001) were associated with longer OS. The findings confirm the therapeutic benefit of erlotinib in a broad range of patients in a sample from a country with a historically high lung cancer morbidity and mortality burden. Several determinants of PFS and OS are identified.

Language

English

Source (journal)

European journal of cancer care. - Oxford

Publication

Oxford : 2014

ISSN

0961-5423

DOI

10.1111/ECC.12146

Volume/pages

23 :3 (2014) , p. 370-379