Efficacy of Paclitaxel plus TS1 against previously treated mutated non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Later line chemotherapy (≥2nd lines) such as Docetaxel or immunotherapy is frequently used. As the life expectancy of lung cancer patients is getting longer, we need to provide more treatment options. Other treatment options are not well documented except for Doxetaxel and immunotherapy. Therefore, the efficacy of paclitaxel plus TS1 (TTS1) is warranted.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the chart records of our non-small cell lung cancer patients who were treated between 2010 and 2013. Clinical characteristics, type of tumor, EGFR mutation status, and treatment response to first-line EGFR-TKI therapy and efficacy of TTS1, were collected.

Results: Twenty eight patients were enrolled in this study. No patients archived complete response and seven patients had partial response (ORR: 25%). The disease control rate was 60.7% (17/28). The progression free survival (PFS) was 4.0 months and overall survival (OS) was 15.8 months. Of them, 17 had EGFR mutations, eight wild type, and three were unknown EGFR status. After TTS1 treatment, patients with mutations had better PFS (4.9 months vs. 1.8 months) and OS (15.5 months vs. 7.2 months) compared with those of wild type.

Conclusions: TTS1 are effective later line chemotherapy, especially in tumor mutated patients. Paclitaxel plus TS1 is another treatment of choice for NSCLC patients before a more effective treatment strategy is found.