Basic clinical parameters predict gefitinib efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: In epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the tyrosine-kinase inhibitor gefitinib is in broad use. We retrospectively analysed data for 82 patients with advanced NSCLC treated with gefitinib and correlated benefits with clinical baseline and therapy-related parameters.

Patients: Of all patients 48/82 were male; the median age at start of gefitinib was 67.

Combination of cytology, fluorescence in situ hybridization for aneuploidy, and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for human mammaglobin/mammaglobin B expression improves diagnosis of malignant effusions.

Purpose: The identification of malignant cells in effusions by conventional cytology is hampered by its limited sensitivity. The aim of this study was to improve tumor cell detection in effusions by molecular approaches.

Materials And Methods: A total of 157 effusions from patients with tumors and 72 effusions from patients without a history or evidence of malignancy were included in this study.