A Phase Ib/II Study of Afatinib in Combination with Nimotuzumab in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with Acquired Resistance to Gefitinib or Erlotinib

Purpose: In this phase Ib/II study, we aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of afatinib plus nimotuzumab (N) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with acquired resistance to gefitinib or erlotinib. Experimental Design: In phase Ib stage, patients received afatinib (40 mg or 30 mg once daily) plus nimotuzumab (100 mg or 200 mg once weekly) for 28-day cycles to determine the recommended phase II dose (RPIID). The safety and efficacy of RPIID dose was evaluated in phase II stage. Results: In total, 50 patients were enrolled (13 to phase Ib and 37 to phase II). In the first dose-finding cohort (afatinib 40 mg plus nimotuzumab 100 mg), one patient experienced dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) of grade 3 diarrhea and in the subsequent cohort (afatinib 40 mg plus nimotuzumab 200 mg), two DLTs (grade 3 diarrhea and grade 3 neutropenia) occurred in 2 of 6 patients. Accordingly, RPIID was determined as afatinib 40 mg plus nimotuzumab 100 mg. In 44 patients treated with RPIID, 7 (16%) patients had grade 3 toxicities; skin rash (7%), diarrhea (5%), acne (2%), and fatigue (2%). The overall response rate was 23% and the median duration of response was 4.3 months (range, 0.7-16.2 months). The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 4.0 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.3-5.7 months] and 11.7 months (95% CI, 9.4-14.0 months), respectively. Conclusions: Combination treatment of afatinib and nimotuzumab demonstrated an acceptable safety profile and encouraging antitumor activity in advanced NSCLC patients with acquired resistance to gefitinib or erlotinib. Larger phase III trial is warranted to confirm its efficacy and safety. (C) 2015 AACR.