Symptom and quality of life benefit of afatinib in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients previously treated with erlotinib or gefitinib: results of a randomized phase IIb/III trial (LUX-Lung 1).

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Patient-reported symptom and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) benefit of afatinib, a novel, irreversible, ErbB Family Blocker, was investigated in a double-blind, randomized, phase IIb/III trial (LUX-Lung 1). METHODS: Five hundred and eighty-five patients with lung adenocarcinoma (stage IIIb/IV), who had progressed after chemotherapy (1-2 lines) and at least 12 weeks of erlotinib or gefitinib, were randomized (21) to receive either afatinib plus best supportive care (BSC) or placebo plus BSC. Symptom and HRQoL benefit were measured using the lung cancer-specific European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (QLQ-C30/LC13) and EuroQol (EQ-5D) questionnaires. Non-small-cell lung cancer-related symptoms (cough, dyspnea, and pain) were prespecified using three preplanned analyses (percentage of patients improved/worsened/stable, change in scores over time, and time to deterioration of scores). RESULTS: Compared with patients on placebo, a significantly higher proportion of afatinib-treated patients showed an improvement in cough (p < 0.0001), dyspnea (p = 0.006), and pain (p < 0.0001). Afatinib also significantly improved the mean scores over time for cough (p < 0.0001), dyspnea (p = 0.0161), and pain (p = 0.0056); significantly delayed the time to deterioration for cough (p < 0.001); and showed a trend in delaying dyspnea (p = 0.170) and pain (p = 0.287). Consistent with the adverse-event profile of afatinib, a significantly (p < 0.05) higher proportion of afatinib-treated patients showed worsening of diarrhea, sore mouth, dysphagia, and appetite scores. However, compared with placebo, afatinib significantly (p < 0.05) improved QoL assessed with the EQ-5D questionnaire and global health status/QoL, physical functioning, and fatigue, which were assessed with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaires. CONCLUSION: In the LUX-Lung 1 trial, the addition of afatinib to BSC significantly improved non-small-cell lung cancer-related symptoms (cough, dyspnea, and pain), fatigue, physical functioning, and HRQoL and significantly delayed time to deterioration of cough.