Smokers Having Activating EGFR Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Might Benefit from EGFR-TKI Treatment – Single-Center Experience

Abstract

OBJECTIVEThis study aims to evaluate the predictive impacts of cigarette smoking on treatment outcomes of EGFRtyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients with activatingEGFR mutations.METHODSWe retrospectively evaluated the data of 46 patients with metastatic NSCLC (adenocarcinoma) andEGFR mutation (exon 19 deletion, exon 21 mutation, and exon 18 activating mutation) treated withEGFR-TKI between 2012 and 2017.RESULTSMedian age was 61 (range 30-80), and 56.5% (26/46) was female. Median follow-up was 39 months. Therate of smoking was 41.3% (19/46). The EGFR mutations were present in the patients, exon 19 deletionin 29 patients (64%), exon 21 mutation in 13 patients (28%) and exon 18 activating mutations in fourpatients (8%). Progression-free survival (PFS) was 21 months in smokers, whereas it was 25 months innon-smokers (p=0.330). Median PFS was 21 months for patients using EGFR TKI in the first-line (35patients), and 13 months in the second-line setting (11 patients).CONCLUSIONThere were no statistically significant PFS differences between the smoker and non-smoker groups.Smokers should be tested for EGFR mutations, as some patients may benefit from EGFR TKI treatmentfor longer than reported in the literature.