Gefitinib for Elderly and Unfit Patients with Lung Cancer
Author Information
Author(s): Gridelli C, Maione P, Castaldo V, Rossi A
Primary Institution: ‘SG Moscati’ Hospital
Hypothesis
Can gefitinib be a safe and effective treatment for elderly and unfit patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer?
Conclusion
Gefitinib shows a good safety profile and modest antitumor activity in elderly and unfit patients with advanced NSCLC.
Supporting Evidence
- Gefitinib was well tolerated with no grade 3 or 4 adverse events reported.
- Overall disease control was achieved in 15.2% of patients.
- Median overall survival was 18.8 weeks for the patients in the study.
Takeaway
This study looked at how well a medicine called gefitinib works for older people and those who are not strong enough for regular cancer treatments. It found that gefitinib is safe and can help some patients.
Methodology
Patients with advanced NSCLC were treated with gefitinib under a compassionate use program, and their responses and side effects were evaluated.
Potential Biases
Potential selection bias due to the compassionate use program and retrospective nature of the analysis.
Limitations
The study is retrospective and involved heavily pretreated patients, which may limit the generalizability of the results.
Participant Demographics
Median age was 62 years, with 43 males and 16 females; 18 patients were elderly (age >70) and 41 were unfit (ECOG PS >2).
Statistical Information
Confidence Interval
95% exact binomial confidence limit: 0.4–11.7
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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