Impact of physical size on gefitinib efficacy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations

Efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer patients undergoing dose reduction and those with a low body surface area

“…The main focus of that study was treatment efficacy in patients with a high BSA; by contrast, our interest was not only the effects of dose reduction in patients with AEs as well as in patients with a low BSA. In the previous study, the PFS of patients with low BSA with treatment interruption or reduced dose was either equal to or superior to that of all low-BSA patients (10), which was consistent with our results. Ichihara et al (10) hypothesized that the patients who required a dose reduction due to AEs may be those with relatively high blood concentrations of the agent, due to factors such as drug metabolism.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, there has been only one previous study evaluating the effect of BSA on the efficacy of TKIs (10). That study investigated the potential effect of BSA on the PFS and OS of patients with advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC who were treated with gefitinib (10) and found that BSA affected the outcome of gefitinib therapy, with a higher BSA being associated with worse PFS (10).…”

“…That study investigated the potential effect of BSA on the PFS and OS of patients with advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC who were treated with gefitinib (10) and found that BSA affected the outcome of gefitinib therapy, with a higher BSA being associated with worse PFS (10). The main focus of that study was treatment efficacy in patients with a high BSA; by contrast, our interest was not only the effects of dose reduction in patients with AEs as well as in patients with a low BSA.…”

“…Therefore, a dose reduction due to AEs or low BSA may be required in daily clinical practice for such patients. However, there is limited information on the association between low BSA and TKI dose reduction and efficacy (10). In addition, the efficacy of TKIs in patients undergoing a dose reduction due to severe AEs has not been clearly determined.…”

Low-dose Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)-Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition of EGFR Mutation-positive Lung Cancer: Therapeutic Benefits and Associations Between Dosage, Efficacy and Body Surface Area

“…After stratification of the data according to patients with low BSA (<1.45 m 2 ) versus high BSA (>1.45 m 2 ), the overall low BSA (BSA cut-off around 1.50 m 2 ), and a significant difference was observed in the median PFS between groups (Kudo et al, 2015). Ichihara et al also indicated the efficacy of standard gefitinib doses in prolonging PFS in a low BSA group (Ichihara et al, 2013). However, Sato et al reported no difference in clinical benefits when segregating the data by BSA and between patients with a TKI dose reduction (18.8% of patients in that study) (Sato et al, 2014).…”