Randomised controlled trial of first-line tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI)versusintercalated TKI with chemotherapy forEGFR-mutated nonsmall cell lung cancer

What is it about?

Patients with advanced or metastasized lung cancer, caused by a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can be treated with oral drugs targeting these mutation, thereby slowing down the disease. However, in time all patients will develop other mutations or mechanisms that will cause these drugs to fail with subsequent disease progression. To prolong the time till this occurs, we studied if combination therapy with chemotherapy is favorable over target therapy only. After inclusion of only 22 patient in more than 2 years, the study was terminated prematurely. However, although the number of patients is low, we did found a significant benefit of the combination therapy on time till progression, 13.7 months versus 10.3 months in the monotherapy group. There was no difference in overall survival. But this benefits come with a cost, as patients treated with the combination therapy reported higher rates of adverse events.

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