Gefitinib for a poor performance status patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung harboring EGFR mutation

Recent reports have shown gefitinib, epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) induced marked improvement in ECOG performance status (PS) as first-line therapy in EGFR mutation-positive patients with extremely poor PS. EGFR mutations frequently occur in east-Asian, female, non-smoking, adenocarcinoma patients, however they are occasionally detected in patients with non-adenocarcinomas or with a heavy smoking history. We describe a case in which EGFR mutation was detected in a male, current smoker, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patient with PS 4, who showed a marked response to the first-line gefitinib therapy. EGFR mutational analysis is recommended even for SCC patients especially in east-Asian populations.