Epidermal growth factor receptor targeted therapy by ZD 1839 (Iressa) in
patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Al Musella's Comments: (This is his personal views and are not necessarily the views of the Musella Foundation!)
Website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12871787&dopt=Abstract
Posted on: 07/27/2003
Lung Cancer. 2003 Aug;41(2):227-31.
Epidermal growth factor receptor targeted therapy by ZD 1839 (Iressa) in
patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Cappuzzo F, Ardizzoni A, Soto-Parra H, Gridelli C, Maione P, Tiseo M, Calandri
C, Bartolini S, Santoro A, Crino L.
Division of Medical Oncology, Bellaria Hospital, Via Altura 3, 40139, Bologna,
Italy
PURPOSE: We report four cases of Brain Metastases (BM) from non-small cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) responding to ZD 1839 therapy after standard therapy failure.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: Four patients with BM from NSCLC, pretreated with two or
more lines of chemotherapy, received ZD 1839 (Iressa), on a compassionate use
basis, at the daily dose of 250 mg until disease progression. Three patients
received Iressa after whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) failure. RESULTS: After 3
months of ZD 1839 therapy, one patient had complete response on the brain with
stabilization of extracranial disease, while the other three patients had
partial response both on the brain and on extracranial sites. At the time of
this analysis, two patients discontinued the treatment after 5 and 7 months for
disease progression, while two patients are still on treatment with no evidence
of treatment failure after 3+ and 12+ months. ZD 1839 was generally well
tolerated, with skin toxicity recorded in two patients. CONCLUSION: ZD 1839 may
be effective in NSCLC patients with pretreated BM. Large and prospective trials
need to clarify the role of ZD 1839 in the treatment of BM from NSCLC.
PMID: 12871787 [PubMed - in process]
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