Evidence for disease control with erlotinib after gefitinib failure in typical gefitinib-sensitive Asian patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) gefitinib and erlotinib are gaining an increasing role in the management of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). There is mounting interest in the benefit of administering a second TKI after failure of the first TKI, especially in Asian patients, in whom they are expected to be more efficacious.

Methods: We did a retrospective analysis of patients receiving both gefitinib and erlotinib in our institution during a 2-year period.