Apatinib monotherapy for advanced non‐small cell lung cancer after the failure of chemotherapy or other targeted therapy

BACKGROUND: Apatinib, a small‐molecule inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR‐2), has proven to be effective and safe for treating patients with advanced gastric cancer after second‐line chemotherapy failure. As VEGFR‐2 targeted therapy has made encouraging progress for the treatment of a broad range of malignancies, we explored the efficacy and safety of apatinib for the treatment of advanced non‐small cell lung cancer after the failure of chemotherapy or other targeted therapy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 34 patients (11 with squamous carcinoma and 23 with adenocarcinoma) who were treated with apatinib alone in a daily oral dose of 250 mg in the second‐line or third‐line setting from January 2016 to July 2017. The primary endpoint was progression‐free survival (PFS). RESULTS: EGFR mutation or amplification was detected in 15 patients. The median PFS of the whole group was four months (95% confidence interval 0.3–7.7). A partial response was observed in 2 patients (5.88%) and stable disease in 19 (55.88%). The disease control rate was 61.76%. Common side effects of apatinib were hypertension (n = 12), hand‐foot syndrome (n = 8), and proteinuria (n = 5), which accounted for 35.30%, 23.53%, and 14.71%, respectively, and no grade 3/4 adverse reactions occurred. Apatinib toxicity was controllable and tolerable. CONCLUSIONS: Apatinib appears to be effective and safe for advanced non‐small cell lung cancer after the failure of chemotherapy or other targeted therapy.