8 months, compared with 3.7 months in those receiving bevacizumab plus placebo. The progression-free survival rate at 3 months was 67.7% in the combination group versus 53.4% in the control group;

at 6 months, the rates were 40.3% and 28.4%, respectively. Because of these results, which were from a planned interim analysis of the data, the ATLAS trial was stopped early [41]. A randomized phase 3 trial conducted by the West Japan Thoracic Oncology Group evaluated the gefitinib maintenance therapy after platinum-doublet chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with advanced disease. Eligible patients were randomized to receive either 3 cycles of chemotherapy followed by gefitinib maintenance therapy or 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Gefitinib maintenance therapy was associated with a significant improvement in progression-free survival Anti-infection Compound Library ic50 Venetoclax in vivo duration (HR, 0.68; 95% CI: 0.57–0.80; p < .001) but not in OS. A pre specified analysis of OS by subgroup showed a significant

improvement in OS with gefitinib maintenance in patients with adenocarcinoma histology [42]. Cetuximab when administered in combination with carboplatin and docetaxel, a commonly used regimen for advanced NSCLC, cetuximab has exhibited synergistic interaction in preclinical studies. Therefore, a phase 2 study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of cetuximab, carboplatin, and docetaxel for the treatment of advanced NSCLC. 80 patients chemotherapy-naıve with stage IIIB or stage IV NSCLC received cetuximab (at a dose of 400 mg/m2 on day

1 and 250 mg/m2 on days 8 and 15) plus docetaxel (at a dose of 75 mg/m2 on day 1) and carboplatin (area under the concentration vs time curve [AUC] 5–6 on day 1) every 21 days for up to 6 cycles. Thereafter, patients without evidence of disease progression were continued on single-agent cetuximab for a maximum of 1 year or until disease progression. In 5 (28%) patients, disease stabilization lasted for >6 months. The median progression-free survival was 4.6 months and 4 patients (14%) remained free of disease progression at 12 months. The median survival and 1-year survival Leukocyte receptor tyrosine kinase rate were 10.3 months and 36%, respectively. The 2-year survival rate was 16% [43]. Resistance to EGFR TK inhibitors: • Almost all patients who initially respond to an EGFR TK inhibitor subsequently develop disease progression. The two molecular mechanisms that are responsible for a majority of cases of acquired resistance are secondary mutation at EGFR (T790) or amplification of MET oncogen. There is ongoing clinical trials for agents with in vitro activity against T790M or MET for patient with NSCLC [44] and [45].