Outcomes of adjuvant epithelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) treatment for EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer: a propensity-score analysis

Small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have transformed the management of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring activating epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, while the efficacy of TKIs in the adjuvant setting remains unclear. We collected the data of 209 EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients receiving complete resection from 2010 to 2013. Study end points were disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Among the eligible patients, 41 (19.6%) received EGFR TKIs in the adjuvant treatment. The 3-year DFS of adjuvant EGFR TKIs treatment group (70.5%, 95% CI, 54.6–86.4%) was significantly superior that control group (50.2%, 95% CI, 40–60.4%; log-rank P = 0.014). TKIs treatment (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29–0.97; P = 0.04) was significantly associated with improved DFS in multivariate Cox analysis. No significant difference was observed in 3-year OS between two groups (73.1% [58.0–88.2%] vs 61.8% [52.2–71.4%], log-rank P = 0.21). Propensity-score matching further confirmed that adjuvant TKIs treatment extended the DFS (log-rank P = 0.024), but did not improve OS (log-rank P = 0.40). Our analysis revealed that adjuvant EGFR TKIs treatment was beneficial for early-stage NSCLC patients harboring activating EGFR mutations after complete resection.