Successful afatinib treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients undergoing hemodialysis

The treatment for patients with lung cancer undergoing hemodialysis, who are frequently elderly and have poor performance status, becomes a more important subject. However, the feasibility of afatinib in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis has not, so far, been reported. Here, afatinib was administered to three patients with NSCLC harboring EGFR mutation and chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis. Pharmacokinetic (PK) data of afatinib supported the safety of afatinib treatment. After receiving their written informed consent from all patients, they were administered 30 mg afatinib daily with HD three times a week. We performed PK analyses of afatinib on days 1, 2, 10, and 11 after initial administration of afatinib. All three patients exhibited a partial response without any serious adverse events during the administration of afatinib. These PK data were similar to those of patients with normal organ function, which were previously reported. Our findings may be particularly useful given the current opportunity to use afatinib as a first-line treatment for EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients, providing an additional option for patients with impaired renal function.