Treatment with gefitinib in elderly patients or patients with poor performance status (PS) affected with non small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC)

The majority of NSCLC patients are elderly, with significant co-pathologies and poor PS. Twenty-five patients with advanced NSCLC were enrolled in this study between October 2002 and April 2006. Sixty percent of them were 65 or older and 48% had a poor PS. The disease was seen to be progressive in all patients after at least one line of chemotherapy. The enrolled patients were treated with 250 mg of gefitinib/day orally. The median overall survival was 2 years from the date of first diagnosis and 12 weeks from the date of first gefitinib administration. One patient showed a partial response and three, stable diseases. Gefitinib was well tolerated, without significant toxicity. EGFR selective inhibitors may therefore be important in the treatment of elderly and/or poor PS patients, who cannot undergo chemotherapy. © 2008 Pharma Project Group srl.