Iressa for the non-small cell lung cancer patients who failed prior chemotherapy and radiotherapy

Abstract

To summarize the clinical results of Iressa in the treatment of patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who failed prior chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Twenty-nine patients with NSCLC, who failed prior chemotherapy and radiotherapy, were registered in this open clinical trial. Prior to Iressa therapy, 26 patients were in stage IV, 3 patients in stage IIIB. Iressa was administered orally at 250 mg, once a day until cancer progressed or severe toxicity occured. The median time for administration of Iressa was 5 months. The main toxicity of Iressa was skin toxicity (rash). Twelve cases had rash with 41.4% of the whole group. Two cases had diarrhea, 1 case had bradycardia and 1 case had elevation of transaminase. Among the 29 patients, one patient got complete response (CR), 7 partial response (PR), 12 stable disease (SD) and 9 progression disease (PD). The response rate was 27.59% and disease control rate including both tumor response and stable disease was 68.97%. The median survival time was 5.5 months (1-19 months). Median time to progression (TTP) was 6.5 months. The 1-year survival rate was 44.83%. Iressa is effective and tolerable for the patients with NSCLC who failed prior chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It can remarkably improve symptoms and prolong survival time of NSCLC patients.