A phase II trial comparing pemetrexed with gefitinib as the second-line treatment of nonsquamous NSCLC patients with wild-type EGFR (CTONG0806).

Abstract

8042 Background: Pemetrexed or gefitinib is one of the standard second-line treatments for advanced non-squamousNSCLC in East Asia. The CTONG 0806 a multi-center, randomized, controlled, open-label phase II trial was designed to explore the efficacy of pemetrexed versus gefitinib as the second-line treatment in advanced NSCLC patients without EGFR mutation. Methods: The patients with locally advanced or metastatic, non-squamous NSCLC previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and no EGFR mutation in exons 18-21 were enrolled. Patients were 1:1 randomized to receive either gefitinib 250 mg per oral every day (G arm) or pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 iv day 1 with vitamin B12 and folic acid supplement every 21 days (P arm) until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or discontinuation of treatment due to other reason. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary endpoints were 4-month and 6-month progression-free survival rate, overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), quality of life using the FACT-L questionnaire and safety, EGFR and K-ras mutation status were evaluated and correlated with outcomes. Results: From Feb. 2009 to Aug. 2012, 157 evaluable patients were randomized (81 cases in G arm and 76 in P arm). Baseline age, gender, and ECOG performance status were balanced between arms. The primary endpoint of PFS was met with 1.6 months for G arm versus 4.8 months for P arm, the HR is 0.51 (95% CI 0.36~0.73, P<0.001). Overall response rates were 14.7 % and 13.3 % (P=0.814) and DCR were 32.0% and 61.3% (P<0.001) for G arm and P arm, respectively. OS data were not yet mature. More skin rash and diarrhoea were seen in G arm, but more fatigue and ALT increased in P arm. CTCAE grade 3 or 4 of AEs was 12.3% in G arm and 32.9% in P arm (p=0.002). The further analyses of efficacy evaluated by IRR and biomarkers analysis will be presented on the ground. Conclusions: CTONG0806 is the first trial to show significant improvements in PFS and DCR with pemetrexed compared with gefitinib in second-line setting for advanced NSCLC with EGFR wild type. Patients with EGFR wild type did not benefit from EGFR TKI gefitinb in second-line setting. Clinical trial information: NCT00891579.