Pirker R et al. - This study reports that the patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received cetuximab (Erbitux) plus chemotherapy lived on average 5 weeks longer than patients who received chemotherapy alone. Methods
In a phase III FLEX trial, 1,125 pts with all types of NSCLC were enrolled
Pts were randomly assigned to receive standard platinum-based chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy plus cetuximab
Nearly all of the patients had stage IV disease
Results
OS was higher for those who received cetuximab plus chemotherapy (11.3 mos) vs those who received chemotherapy alone (10.1 mos)
Benefit of the combination therapy was seen in pts with all histological subtypes of NSCLC
This included the two main common subtypes; adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma
The main side effect was an acne-like skin rash that could be managed
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