Efficacy and safety of dacomitinib in treatment-naïve patients with advanced NSCLC harboring uncommon EGFR mutation: an ambispective cohort study

BACKGROUND: About 10% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are harbored as uncommon mutations. This study aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of dacomitinib, a second-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKIs), in treating uncommon EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC. METHODS: Treatment-naïve advanced NSCLC patients treated with dacomitinib at Hunan Cancer Hospital with uncommon EGFR mutations were evaluated. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary end points included overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and safety. RESULT: Between December 2019 and December 2021, a total of 16 patients was included. Median PFS was 14.0 (95% CI 4.32–23.7) months, and median OS was not reached. ORR was 68.8% (95% CI 41.3 to 89.0%) and DCR was 93.8% (95%CI 69.8 to 99.8%), including three achieving complete remission (CR) and eight achieving partial remission (PR). Median PFS for patients with brain metastasis was 9.0 (95%CI 6.9 to 11.1) months. Intracranial ORR was 100%, including 2 CR and 4 PR. Major treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) included rash (87.5%), paronychia (62.5%), oral ulcers (50.0%), and diarrhea (50.0%), none of which were ≥ grade 3 TRAEs. CONCLUSIONS: Dacomitinib showed good activity and manageable toxicity in NSCLC patients with uncommon EGFR mutations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-023-11465-2.