A population-based study of gefitinib in patients with postoperative recurrent non-small cell lung cancer

There is no standard treatment and there are no clearly defined guidelines for the treatment of postoperative recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We performed a retrospective population-based study to assess the benefits of treatment with gefitinib in patients with a postoperative recurrence of NSCLC in general clinical practice. This retrospective population-based study was conducted on patients with postoperative recurrent NSCLC who had been treated with gefitinib at 14 institutions in Ibaraki Prefecture between July 2002 and September 2007. The objective response rate to gefitinib therapy was 37.6% for local and distant recurrence. The median survival time following the start of gefitinib therapy was 12 months, and the one-year and two-year survival rates were 48.9 and 28.9%, respectively. The median survival time of the females was 19 months, and the median survival time of the males was 9 months (p=0.002). Univariate analysis showed that female gender, adenocarcinoma, a performance status (PS) of 0-1 and absence of smoking history were favorable prognostic factors. Only female gender and a PS of 0-1 were independent statistically significant prognostic factors in the multivariate analysis. The rate of greater than grade 1 interstitial lung damage as an adverse event was 3.5%. Gefitinib is a feasible treatment for postoperative recurrent NSCLC in general clinical practice, and a good response and prolonged survival were obtained, similar to the findings reported in published clinical studies that were conducted on highly selected patients.