In the third-line setting , for patients who have not received erlotinib or gefitinib , treatment with erlotinib is recommended .
There are insufficient data to recommend routine third-line cytotoxic therapy .
Purpose To provide evidence -based recommendations to up date the American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline on systemic therapy for stage IV non – small-cell lung cancer ( NSCLC ) .
Results This guideline up date reflects changes in evidence since the previous guideline .
Phase III study, V-15-32, of gefitinib versus docetaxel in previously treated Japanese patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
PURPOSE This phase III study ( V-15 - 32 ) compared gefitinib ( 250 mg/d ) with docetaxel ( 60 mg/m(2 ) ) in patients ( N = 489 ) with advanced/metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer ( NSCLC ) who had failed one or two chemotherapy regimens . METHODS The primary objective was to compare overall survival to demonstrate noninferiority for gefitinib relative to docetaxel . An unadjusted Cox regression model was used for the primary analysis . RESULTS Noninferiority in overall survival was not achieved ( hazard ratio [ HR ] , 1.12 ; 95.24 % CI , 0.89 to 1.40 ) according to the predefined criterion ( upper CI limit for HR < or= 1.25 ) ; however , no significant difference in overall survival ( P = .330 ) was apparent between treatments . Post study , 36 % of gefitinib-treated patients received subsequent docetaxel , and 53 % of docetaxel-treated patients received subsequent gefitinib . Gefitinib significantly improved objective response rate and quality of life versus docetaxel ;  progression-free survival , disease control rates , and symptom improvement were similar for the two treatments . Grade s 3 to 4 adverse events occurred in 40.6 % ( gefitinib ) and 81.6 % ( docetaxel ) of patients . Incidence of interstitial lung disease was 5.7 % ( gefitinib ) and 2.9 % ( docetaxel ) . Four deaths occurred due to adverse events in the gefitinib arm ( three deaths as a result of interstitial lung disease , judged to be treatment related ; one as a result of pneumonia , not treatment related ) , and none occurred in the docetaxel arm . CONCLUSION Noninferiority in overall survival between gefitinib and docetaxel was not demonstrated according to predefined criteria ; however , there was no statistically significant difference in overall survival . Secondary end points showed similar or superior efficacy for gefitinib compared with docetaxel . Gefitinib remains an effective treatment option for previously treated Japanese patients with NSCLC
In the third-line setting , for patients who have not received erlotinib or gefitinib , treatment with erlotinib is recommended .
There are insufficient data to recommend routine third-line cytotoxic therapy .
Purpose To provide evidence -based recommendations to up date the American Society of Clinical Oncology guideline on systemic therapy for stage IV non – small-cell lung cancer ( NSCLC ) .
Results This guideline up date reflects changes in evidence since the previous guideline .