First-Line Pemetrexed Plus Cisplatin Followed by Gefitinib Maintenance Therapy Versus Gefitinib Monotherapy in East Asian Never-Smoker Patients With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Nonsquamous Non-Small-cell Lung Cancer: Quality of Life Results From a Randomized Phase III Trial

In a randomized study of pemetrexed plus cisplatin followed by maintenance gefitinib (PC/G) or gefitinib monotherapy (G) in East Asian never-smoker patients with advanced nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer, the quality of life symptoms were more favorable in the G group than in the PC/G group. In patients with wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor, tumor-related symptoms appeared to improve more with PC/G than with G. Background: The efficacy results from an open-label, randomized, multicenter study found no significant difference in progression-free survival between pemetrexed plus cisplatin followed by maintenance gefitinib (PC/G) and gefitinib monotherapy (G) in patients with advanced nonsquamous non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and unknown epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status (hazard ratio favored PC/G). The present report describes the quality of life (QoL) results from that trial. Patients and Methods: Chemotherapy-naive, East Asian, light ex-smokers or never-smokers with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC and unknown EGFR mutation status (n = 236) were randomly assigned (1:1) to PC/G or G. EGFR mutation status was subsequently determined for 74 patients. The symptoms and QoL were assessed using the Lung Cancer Symptom Scale (LCSS). The time to worsening of symptoms (TWS) was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: In the overall population, the TVVS was generally longer in the G group (n = 109) than in the PC/G group (n = 109) for the LCSS symptoms classified as treatment-related (loss of appetite, fatigue) and tumor-related (cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, pain). In the subgroup of patients with wild-type EGFR, the TINS was generally longer in the PC/G group (n = 13) than in the G group (n = 8) for the tumor-related LCSS symptoms. Conclusion: In this study population clinically selected to respond to gefitinib, the LCSS scores were more favorable in the G group than in the PC/G group. Patients with wild-type EGFR tended to show greater improvement in tumor-related LOSS symptoms with chemotherapy than with gefitinib alone. These LOSS outcomes provide further evidence that patients with wild-type EGFR might not benefit from first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC with gefitinib. (C) 2016 Eli Lilly and Company. Published by Elsevier Inc.