Background and importance Erlotinib is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase (TKI) inhibitor which strongly inhibits intracellular phosphorylation of EGFR. It is an established treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Aim and objectives To evaluate the efficacy and safety of erlotinib in patients diagnosed with NSCLC.

Material and methods This was a retrospective study of the efficacy and safety of erlotinib in patients diagnosed with NSCLC between January 2014 and April 2019. The following data were collected from the electronic clinical history programme (SIAS) and the oncology prescription programme (Oncofarm): sex, age, tumour histology, initial dose, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), date of initiation of treatment and duration of treatment, reason for termination of treatment, previous treatment, type of metastasis, adverse effects (AEs) and progression free survival (PFS).

Results Thirty patients were included, 18 were men (60%) and mean age was 68±11 years. The most common tumour subtype was adenocarcinoma (90% of patients). All patients were EGFR mutation positive.

Three patients started with a reduced dose of erlotinib (100 mg): 56.6% of our patients received erlotinib as a firstline therapy, 33.3% had received one previous chemotherapy regimen before erlotinib and 10% had received three prior chemotherapy regimens before erlotinib. A total of 66.7% of patients had metastasis before starting erlotinib. KPS was 80–100% in all patients.

Median PFS was 10.4 months for firstline erlotinib patients while for patients with at least one prior chemotherapy, it was 6 months.

The main AEs observed were rash (60% of patients), diarrhoea (43.3%), conjunctivitis (23.3%), oral thrush (16.7%), dizziness (16.7%), acneiform dermatitis (10%) and asthenia (10%).

Conclusion and relevance Our results showed greater survival in patients who received elotinib as a firstline therapy. These results showed a median PFS higher than the data published in clinical trials. Rash and diarrhoea were the most common adverse effects, as expected. Clinical trials showed the same toxicity data as those obtained in our study.

References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.