Erlotinib in treatment of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of Erlotinib in treatment of elderly patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC),and analyze the influence factors.Methods A retrospective study was performed on 238 cases of elderly pa-tients with advanced NSCLC who were admitted from January 2010 to January 2015.All the patients were given oral Erlotinib 150 mg per day as the treatment till intolerable or disease progression.The correlation between clinical indicators and short-term efficacy and long-term efficacy were accessed,and the progression-free survival,total survival and adverse reactions were analyzed.Results There were 238 cases of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC treated with Erlotinib,the total effective rate was 46.2%(110/238),disease control rates was 70.6%(168/238),median progression-free survival was 14 months(95%CI=12.77-15.23),the median overall survival was 21 months(95%CI=19.01-22.99).The overall survival rate was 69.7%(166/238) and 32.7%(78/238) in 2 years and 13.4%(32/238) in 3 years.Common adverse reactions associated with drugs include rashes,diarrhea and decreased appetite, with levels ranging from gradeⅠor gradeⅡ.Female,adenocarcinoma and non-smokers have a higher overall rate of effective and dis-ease control.Cox multivariate analysis showed that adenocarcinoma and the American eastern tumor group score were independent fac-tors affecting the survival and total survival time.Conclusion Erlotinib is effective and safe for elderly patients with advanced NSCLC.The female and the patients who is non-smoker and with adenocarcinoma could benefit more.