Efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and its incidence seriously affects human health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anlotinib in patients with advanced NSCLC. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 150 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with anlotinib and discontinued treatment after disease progression or intolerance due to adverse events. Progression-free survival (PFS) of advanced NSCLC patients served as an endpoint. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were applied to evaluate the short-term efficacy of anlotinib treatment in advanced NSCLC patients. RESULTS: The median PFS of the whole 150-patient cohort was 5.0 months in (95% CI: 4.00–5.95), 5.0 months (95% CI: 3.0–6.00) in 90 patients with adenocarcinoma, and 4.5 months (95% CI: 4.00–7.00) in 60 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (P=0.676). The PFS was 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.00–8.80) and 4.5 months (95% CI: 4.00–5.60) in the first-/second-line and ≥ third-line patients, respectively (P=0.315). Following the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) score, the median PFS of 95 patients with a PS score 0–1 was 5.5 months (95% CI: 4.50–6.50), and the median PFS of 55 patients with a PS score ntswas 4.0 months (95% CI: 3.00–5.00) (P=0.221). For the 49 patients in the combination group the median PFS was 7.0 months (95% CI: 4.00–9.00), while that of the 101 patients in the anlotinib-alone group was 4.0 months in (95% CI: 2.80–5.50) (P=0.010). In a separate analysis of the combination group, the median PFS of anlotinib combined with chemotherapy, epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), and immunotherapy was 5.5 months (95% CI: 4.00–9.00), 12.0 months (95% CI: 6.00–12.00), and 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.00–9.80), respectively (P=0.036). CONCLUSIONS: Anlotinib exhibits good tolerance and performance in prolonging the PFS of patients and has considerable potential as a treatment for advanced NSCLC.