Effect of Gefitinib Combined with Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced NSCLC: A Retrospective Cohort Study

There are currently no methods for the treatment of reversible drug-resistant EGFR-TKI lung cancer in the clinical setting, and thus, the patients finally return to the currently used drugs. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of chemotherapy alone and gefitinib combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in advanced stage with the mutation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

A retrospective analysis was carried out on 120 patients with advanced EGFRm+ NSCLC who were divided into the control group (CG, received chemotherapy alone) or the observation group (OG, received chemotherapy and gefitinib) according to the treatment methods.

Comparison of the objective response rates (ORRs) showed no statistical significant difference between OG (36.92%) and CG (29.09%, P > 0.05), whereas in OG, disease control rate (DCR) was significantly increased in comparison with CG (P < 0.05). The medians of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in OG were 8.0 months and 24.0 months, respectively, which were longer than 5.0 months and 18.0 months in CG (P = 0.031). The univariate analysis revealed that clinical stage of tumor (HR = 1.590, 95% CI: 1.097-2.343) was the prognostic factor for advanced lung cancer. Multi-factor Cox regression analysis revealed that clinical analysis was an independent prognostic factor (HR = 1.701, 95% CI: 1.099-2.632).

In PFS patients, the OS rate was significantly improved, which was worth for clinical use.