@Article{096504018X15151523767752,
AUTHOR = {Atsushi Fujiwara, Masamichi Yoshida, Hajime Fujimoto, Hiroki Nakahara, Kentaro Ito, Kota Nishihama, Taro Yasuma, Osamu Hataji, Osamu Taguchi, Corina N. D’Alessandro-Gabazza, Esteban C. Gabazza, Tetsu Kobayashi},
TITLE = {A Retrospective Comparison of the Clinical Efficacy of Gefitinib, Erlotinib,  and Afatinib in Japanese Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer},
JOURNAL = {Oncology Research},
VOLUME = {26},
YEAR = {2018},
NUMBER = {7},
PAGES = {1031--1036},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/or/v26n7/56717},
ISSN = {1555-3906},
ABSTRACT = {Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are very effective against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) caused by 
epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. Before the approval of osimertinib in March 2016, there 
were only three available EGFR TKIs (gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib) for the therapy of NSCLC in Japan. 
Osimertinib can be indicated only against T790M<sup>+</sup>
 lung cancer as a second-line therapy. However, whether 
gefitinib, erlotinib, or afatinib is most appropriate as a first-line therapy is still a controversial issue. The aim of 
this study was to compare the effectiveness of gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib. We retrospectively reviewed the 
records of 310 patients with the diagnosis of EGFR mutation-associated NSCLC including 147 patients treated 
with EGFR TKIs. Time to treatment failure and overall survival were evaluated. There were no significant differences in time to treatment failure (gefitinib: 9.2 months; erlotinib: 9.8 months; afatinib: 13.1 months) and 
overall survival (gefitinib: 27.3 months; erlotinib: 29.3 months; afatinib data not available) among NSCLC 
patients treated with the three different EGFR TKIs. Subgroup analysis showed that smoking status has a 
significant influence on both time to treatment failure and overall survival. In conclusion, this study showed 
comparable clinical efficacy of gefitinib, erlotinib, and afatinib in Japanese patients with NSCLC.},
DOI = {10.3727/096504018X15151523767752}
}