Clinical Edge

Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Dacomitinib and Erlotinib in NSCLC

Comparing survival and safety

Dacomitinib is an active agent with comparable efficacy to erlotinib in patients with EGFR-mutated advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study of 121 patients with any EGFR mutation, including 101 with activating mutations in exon 19 or 21. Researchers found:

  • In patients with exon 19/21 mutations, median progression-free survival was 14.6 months with dacomitinib and 9.6 months with erlotinib.
  • Median survival was 26.6 months with dacomitinib vs 23.2 months with erlotinib.
  • Dacomitinib was associated with higher incidence of diarrhea and mucositis vs erlotinib.

Citation: Ramalingam SS, O’Byrne K, Boyer M, et al. Dacomitinib versus erlotinib in patients with EGFR-mutated advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): pooled subset analyses from two randomized trials. [Published online ahead of print January 13, 2016]. Ann Oncol. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdv593.