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CYFRA 21-1 level predicts survival in non-small-cell lung cancer patients receiving gefitinib as third-line therapy.

Barlési F, Tchouhadjian C, Doddoli C, Torre JP, Astoul P, Kleisbauer JP

Department of Thoracic Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, Fédération des Maladies Respiratoires, Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite, 270, Bd de Sainte-Marguerite, 13274 Marseille Cedex 09, France. fabrice.barlesi@mail.ap-hm.fr

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) as gefitinib emerged as an accepted treatment in second- or third-line setting in NSCLC. However, clinical surrogate markers of EGFR-TKI activity in NSCLC patients remain to be identified and we studied the prognostic value of CYFRA 21-1 in this setting. Serum samples from 53 patients with NSCLC receiving gefitinib after failure of at least a platinum-containing regimen were prospectively collected from January 2002 to December 2003. Multivariate analysis demonstrated an independent negative impact on survival for a level of CYFRA 21-1 higher than 3.5 ng ml(-1) (HR=2.45, 95% CI 1.13-5.29; P=0.02). In conclusion, CYFRA 21-1 is a tool available to predict the survival of NSCLC patients receiving gefitinib as third-line therapy in an independent manner. In case of a CYFRA 21-1 level higher than 3.5 ng ml(-1), treatment with gefitinib needs further evaluation giving its relative poor effect on survival.

Published 9 February 2005 in Br J Cancer, 92(1): 13-4.
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