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Abstract
Aim: To evaluate gefitinib outcomes in EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients harboring EGFR mutations, according to their sarcopenia status. Patients & methods: We retrospectively evaluated 33 patients with advanced NSCLC and EGFR mutations (exon 19 or 21), dividing them into sarcopenic patients, with low skeletal muscle index ≤39 cm2/m2 for women and ≤55 cm2/m2 for men, and nonsarcopenic patients. Results: Sarcopenia does not affect response to gefitinib treatment in EGFR mutated NSCLC patients, even if it is a bad prognostic indicator for overall survival (p = 0.035). Conclusion: Early recognition of sarcopenia is beneficial for prevention of cancer cachexia and detection of patients at potential risk of serious adverse events. Gefitinib dosage should be reduced and modulated in sarcopenic patients.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no 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. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.
Ethical conduct of research
The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.