Effects of Erlotinib on 34 Patients with Advanced Squamous Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract

Background and objective Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhinitors (EGFR-TKIs) inhibit tumor growth by affecting signal transduction, and are well tolerated. The aims of this study was to observe the effect of erlotinib in patients with squamous cell lung cancer. Methods The 34 patients with squamous cell lung cancer treated with erlotinib 150 mg orally once daily until disease progression or intolerable adverse reactions. Results The 7 patients were treated with erlotinib as first-line treatment, 6 patients as maintenance therapy (1 case withdrawal of severe toxicity), 9 patients second-line treatment, 5 patients as third-line and 7 patients as further-line therapy. 11 patients died. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.5 months, ranging from 1 month to 55 months (the patient withdrawal of severe toxicity was not included). Conclusion Erlotinib was effective for patients with squamous cell lung cancer who can not tolerate chemotherapy or refused chemotherapy and with unknown EGFR status. Adverse reactions were tolerable.

Keywords

• Lung neoplasms
• Erlotinib
• EGFR-TKI