Safety of gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer treatment

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The development of EGFR TKI and the subsequent identification of activating EGFR mutations have dramatically changed how NSCLC is treated. With its recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, gefitinib adds to the list of recommended first-line treatments for lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations, which hitherto includes erlotinib and afatinib.

Areas covered: This review summarizes the pharmacological property, clinical efficacy, and safety of gefitinib in major clinical trials and post-marketing studies.

Expert opinion: Gefitinib is a well-tolerated treatment for advanced NSCLC. The most common adverse events are skin reaction and diarrhea, both of which are generally mild, noncumulative, and manageable. Other side effects such as interstitial lung disease and liver toxicity are less common but can be serious. Which EGFR TKI is the preferred first-line treatment is a matter of debate. Gefitinib and erlotinib have comparable efficacy, whereas afatinib may exert superior clinical activity over gefitinib. In terms of the most common toxicities of skin reaction and diarrhea, gefitinib may be the most tolerable of the three. Hence, despite being the earliest EGFR TKI developed, gefitinib continues to be one of the first-line treatments for advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC, especially when skin and gastrointestinal toxicity is a concern.

KEYWORDS:

• EGFR
• gefitinib
• non-small cell lung cancer
• safety
• tyrosine kinase inhibitor

Declaration of interest

JC Yang is a consultant and received honoraria for speech and advisory boards for AstraZeneca, Roche/Genentech/Chugai, Boehringer Ingelheim, MSD, Merck Serono, Novartis, Pfizer, Clovis Oncology, Eli Lilly, Bayer, Celgene, Astellas, InnoPharmax, Ono Pharmaceutical, and BMS. CC Lin is a consultant and received honoraria from Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed