Updated survival outcomes of NEJ005/TCOG0902: a randomised phase II study of concurrent versus sequential alternating gefitinib and chemotherapy in previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer with sensitive EGFR mutations

BACKGROUND: The North-East Japan Study Group (NEJ) 005/Tokyo Cooperative Oncology Group (TCOG) 0902 study has reported that first-line concurrent and sequential alternating combination therapies of an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (gefitinib) plus platinum-based doublet chemotherapy (carboplatin/pemetrexed) offer promising efficacy with predictable toxicities for patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. However, overall survival (OS) data were insufficient in the primary report because of the lack of death events. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Progression-free survival (PFS) and OS were re-evaluated at the final data cut-off point (March 2017) for the entire population (n=80). RESULTS: At the median follow-up time of 35.6 months, 88.8% of patients had progressive disease and 77.5% of patients had died. Median PFS was 17.5 months for the concurrent regimen and 15.3 months for the sequential alternating regimen (P=0.13). Median OS was 41.9 and 30.7 months, respectively (P=0.036). Updated response rates were similar in both groups (90.2% and 82.1%, respectively; P=0.34). Patients with Del19 tumours displayed relatively better OS (median: 45.3 vs 33.3 months, respectively) than those with L858R (31.4 vs 28.9 months, respectively). No severe adverse events, including interstitial lung disease, occurred in the period since the primary report. CONCLUSIONS: This updated analysis confirms that PFS is improved with first-line combination therapy compared with gefitinib monotherapy and that the concurrent regimen, in particular, offers an OS benefit of 42 months in the EGFR-mutated setting. Our ongoing NEJ009 study will clarify whether this combination strategy can be incorporated into routine clinical practice. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN C000002789, Post-results.