Gefitinib in the Treatment of 16 Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of gefitinib monotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) and the adverse reactions. METHODS For 16 cases of failure of chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC were treated with oral gefitinib 250 mg·d^-1, until the patients can not tolerate the side effects. RESULTS Among the 16 cases of advanced NSCLC patients, 4 cases(25.0%) had no complete remission or partial remission (PR), 6 cases (37.5%) keep stable(SD), clinical benefit rate (PR+SD) was 62.5%. There were no relationship between the clinical benefit rates and sex, smoking history or cancer staging. After follow-up, among 16 patients, 6 cases survived, 10 patients died. The TTP was 7 months, the MST was 10 months, respectively. The mainly adverse reactions were Ⅰ-Ⅱ degree of skin rash and diarrhea, and can be alleviated through symptomatic treatment. CONCLUSION Gefitinib has significant anti-tumor effects, can significantly improve the life quality of patients with advanced NSCLC, improve clinical symptoms, and the adverse reactions can be tolerated．