A phase II trial of second-line erlotinib in combination with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Abstract

8074 Background: Stage IV NSCLC patients who progress through first-line therapy have poor progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), most commonly failing in existing sites of gross disease after systemic therapy. Cytoreduction with SBRT may aid systemic agents in prolonging survival. We decided to test this hypothesis in a multi-institutional phase II study with SBRT and erlotinib. Methods: Stage IV NSCLC patients with ≤ 6 sites of extracranial disease who failed first-line systemic therapy were eligible to receive SBRT to all sites of clinically apparent disease, utilizing equipotent fractionation schemes based on location of disease and risk of toxicity to critical normal structures, and erlotinib given daily (150 mg OD) until disease progression. Frequent SBRT fractionation schemes used included 33 Gy in 11 Gy fractions and 40 Gy in 8 Gy fractions. Safety and clinical endpoints were evaluated. Results: 23 patients (12 M: 11 F) with a median age of 67 (56-86) were enrolled in this trial with median follow-up of 14.7 months. All patients progressed through platinum-based chemotherapy, 14 with paclitaxel and 7 with pemetrexed as part of the doublet regimen. 20/23 patients received SBRT to 3 or fewer sites. Lung parenchyma and mediastinal lymph nodes represented most common sites of irradiation. Median PFS was 10.7 months and median OS was 20.8 months.A majority of patients progressed in new sites with only 4 patients failing locally. Most distant failures manifested in the liver. Only one grade 3 toxicity, pneumonitis, was radiation-related. The trial commenced before molecular profiling became standard; 5/10 patient tumors tested, however, had EGFR alterations by IHC/FISH, 0/10 were positive for an EGFR mutation. Conclusions: Use of SBRT with erlotinib for unselected stage IV NSCLC patients as a second-line therapy was well tolerated and resulted in significant PFS and OS, substantially greater than historical values for patients who only received second-line systemic agents. Debulking gross disease with local therapy results in a median PFS of nearly a year with patients relapsing most commonly in new rather than existing sites. Clinical trial information: NCT00547105.