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. 2013 Oct;8(4):204-8.
doi: 10.4103/1817-1737.118503.

Erlotinib in wild type epidermal growth factor receptor non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review

Abdul-Rahman Jazieh  1 , Reem Al Sudairy, Nada Abu-Shraie, Wafaa Al Suwairi, Mazen Ferwana, M Hassan Murad
Affiliations

Erlotinib in wild type epidermal growth factor receptor non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review

Abdul-Rahman Jazieh et al. Ann Thorac Med. 2013 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Targeting epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) is an innovative approach to managing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which harbors EGFR mutation. However, the efficacy of these agents like erlotinib in patients without the mutation is not known.

Methods: This systematic review included Phase III randomized clinical trials that compared single agent erlotinib to other management options in the setting of NSCLC with reported outcome data on patients with EGFR wild type (EGFRWT) tumors. Outcome data include overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and response rate (RR). Random effects meta-analysis was used to pool outcomes across studies.

Results: Three studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies included a total of 2044 patients with outcome data on 674 patients with EGFRWT tumors (33%). Meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant improvement in OS with erlotinib (hazard ratio of 0.780; 95% confidence interval: 0.654-0.930, P = 0.006). Data were not available to perform PFS or RR analysis. The quality of this evidence is considered to be moderate to high.

Conclusion: Our study revealed a significant benefit of erlotinib in patient with EGFRWT tumors compared with other approaches. These findings add another therapeutic option to patients generally considered difficult to treat.

Keywords: Epidermal growth factor; erlotinib; non-small cell lung cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Dr. Jazieh received honorarium from Roche.

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