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Phase 2 study of erlotinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Thomas, MB; Chadha, R; Glover, K; Wang, X; Morris, J; Brown, T; Rashid, A; Dancey, J; Abbruzzese, JL
Published in: Cancer
September 1, 2007

BACKGROUND: Growth factor overexpression, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression, is common in hepatocellular cancers. Erlotinib is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with specificity for EGFR. The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with erlotinib who were alive and progression-free (PFS) at 16 weeks of continuous treatment. METHODS: Patients with unresectable HCC, no prior systemic therapy, performance status (PS) of 0, 1, or 2, and Childs-Pugh (CP) cirrhosis A or B received oral erlotinib 150 mg daily for 28-day cycles. Tumor response was assessed every 2 cycles by using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST; National Cancer Institute Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, Bethesda, Md) criteria. Patients accrued to either "low" or "high" EGFR expression cohorts; each cohort had stopping rules applied when there was a lack of efficacy. RESULTS: Forty HCC patients were enrolled. Median age was 64 years (range, 33-83 years), sex distribution was 32 males and 8 females, performance scores were 40% PS 0, 55% PS 1, Childs-Pugh distribution was 75% A and 20% B. There were no complete or partial responses; however, 17 of 40 patients achieved stable disease at 16 weeks of continuous therapy. The PFS at 16 weeks was 43%, and the median overall survival (OS) was 43 weeks (10.75 months). No patients required dose reductions of erlotinib. No correlation between EGFR expression and outcome was found. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicated that single-agent erlotinib is well tolerated and has modest disease-control benefit in HCC, manifested as modestly prolonged PFS and OS when compared with historical controls.

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Published In

Cancer

DOI

ISSN

0008-543X

Publication Date

September 1, 2007

Volume

110

Issue

5

Start / End Page

1059 / 1067

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Treatment Outcome
  • Quinazolines
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Oncology & Carcinogenesis
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Liver Neoplasms
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Humans
 

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Thomas, M. B., Chadha, R., Glover, K., Wang, X., Morris, J., Brown, T., … Abbruzzese, J. L. (2007). Phase 2 study of erlotinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer, 110(5), 1059–1067. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.22886
Thomas, Melanie B., Romil Chadha, Katrina Glover, Xuemei Wang, Jeffrey Morris, Thomas Brown, Asif Rashid, Janet Dancey, and James L. Abbruzzese. “Phase 2 study of erlotinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.Cancer 110, no. 5 (September 1, 2007): 1059–67. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.22886.
Thomas MB, Chadha R, Glover K, Wang X, Morris J, Brown T, et al. Phase 2 study of erlotinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer. 2007 Sep 1;110(5):1059–67.
Thomas, Melanie B., et al. “Phase 2 study of erlotinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.Cancer, vol. 110, no. 5, Sept. 2007, pp. 1059–67. Pubmed, doi:10.1002/cncr.22886.
Thomas MB, Chadha R, Glover K, Wang X, Morris J, Brown T, Rashid A, Dancey J, Abbruzzese JL. Phase 2 study of erlotinib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer. 2007 Sep 1;110(5):1059–1067.
Journal cover image

Published In

Cancer

DOI

ISSN

0008-543X

Publication Date

September 1, 2007

Volume

110

Issue

5

Start / End Page

1059 / 1067

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Treatment Outcome
  • Quinazolines
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Oncology & Carcinogenesis
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Liver Neoplasms
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Humans