BMC Gastroenterology (Oct 2021)

Larotinib in patients with advanced and previously treated esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor overexpression or amplification: an open-label, multicenter phase 1b study

  • Rongrui Liu,
  • Lianke Liu,
  • Chuanhua Zhao,
  • Yuxian Bai,
  • Yulong Zheng,
  • Shu Zhang,
  • Ning Li,
  • Jianwei Yang,
  • Qingxia Fan,
  • Xiuwen Wang,
  • Shan Zeng,
  • Yingjun Zhang,
  • Weihong Zhang,
  • Yulei Zhuang,
  • Ning Kang,
  • Yingzhi Jiang,
  • Hongmei Sun,
  • Jianming Xu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12876-021-01982-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Background Larotinib is a new first-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor. This open-label, phase 1b study is aimed to evaluate the efficacy, safety of larotinib in patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with EGFR overexpression or amplification pretreated with one or more system regimens, and to recommend an appropriate dose for its further study. Methods Patients received larotinib orally at 3 doses (250, 300, 350 mg), once daily. Clinical response was evaluated every 8 weeks according to RECIST v1.1 criteria by both investigators and independent radiology review (IRC). Results 81 patients were enrolled. The investigator-assessed overall response rate (ORR) was 13.7% (10/73), all responses were observed in the 350 mg group of which ORR up to 20.0% (10/50), with 10 of them having EGFR overexpression and 4 having EGFR amplification. Per IRC assessment, ORR for all patients and 350 mg group were 13.9% (10/72) and 16.3% (8/50). In the 350 mg group, median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were 8.0 (95% CI 4.9–10.2) months and 3.4 (95% CI 2.4–3.7) months, respectively. The most common treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were diarrhea, rash, and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome, elevated AST/ALT, vomiting, similarly with other EGFR TKIs. Conclusions Larotinib demonstrated promising antitumor activity and manageable safety profiles in patients with pre-treated advanced ESCC with EGFR overexpression or amplification, especially at the dose of 350 mg, which showed better efficacy and acceptable safety. A phase 3 study is underway on 350 mg larotinib in ESCC patients with EGFR overexpression. Trial registration This trial was retrospectively registered on 25/03/2019, NCT03888092. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03888092 .

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