Lung cancer : journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Randomized phase II study of gefitinib versus erlotinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who failed previous chemotherapy.
Gefitinib and erlotinib are potent EGFR TKIs, with antitumor activity. In this randomized, single-center, non-comparative phase II trial, the efficacy and safety of gefitinib and erlotinib was evaluated as the second-line therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ⋯ Both gefitinib and erlotinib showed effective activity and tolerable toxicity profiles as second-line treatment for the selected population of NSCLC. We may consider conducting a phase III trial to directly compare the efficacy and toxicity between gefitinib and erlotinib in an enriched patient population.
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Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common form of lung cancer with an extremely low survival rate. It is characterized by a chronic inflammatory process with intense mast cell infiltrate that is associated with reduced survival. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that mast cells have an enhancing effect on NSCLC proliferation. ⋯ In summary, we have shown a significant effect of mast cells and histamine in enhancing NSCLC/LLCX growth in vitro, while in a mouse LLC model in vivo we have found that mast cells are important negative regulators of cancer development. Therefore our results would indicate a pro-tumorogenic effect of the mast cells in vitro on established lung tumor cell lines, and anti-tumorogenic effect in mice at lung cancer induction. In conclusion, mast cell/anti-histamine targeted therapies should carefully consider this dual effect.