The efficacy and safety of lcotinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: compare with gefitinib

Background: As is known to all, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the most lethal malignancies with few effective treatment modalities. Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are very effective for treating the patients with EGFR mutations. As the first homegrown anticancer drug, icotinib is a novel, orally administered, and reversible EGFR-TKI. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of icotinib with gefitinib to patients with advanced NSCLC. Methods: The retrospective analysis included 219 patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC harbouring mutant-type EGFR. The selected patients received either icotinib (125 mg thrice daily, n=126) or gefitinib (250 mg daily, n=93) orally until the disease progression or unacceptable toxicities appeared. Meanwhile, side effects, tumor responses, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival time (OS) were recorded for analysis. Results: Compared with gefitinib, it was observed that the overall objective response rate of patients was 46.0% and the disease control rate was 86.5%. The life quality of patients was improved accordingly. The main toxicities of icotinib were skin toxicity (rash) and diarrhea. A total of 4 patients were found with moderate adverse reactions, which was lower than gefitinib. The median PFS was 6.5 months in the icotinib group and 6.3 months in the gefitinib group, and the OS was 20.9 months in the icotinib group and 20.3 months in the gefitinib group. Conclusion: Associated with a lower number of treatment-related adverse cases than gefitinib, icotinib was not inferior to gefitinib in treating advanced NSCLC. In conclusion, China’s homemade EGFR-TKI, icotinib has provided a new choice for NSCLC patients.