An observational study of apatinib mesylate in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer with unknown driving gene(s).

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of apatinib mesylate (AM) in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) with wild or unknown epidermal growth factor receptor (w/nEGFR). METHODS: A total of 34 w/nEGFR -aNSCLC patients who failed chemotherapy from August 2015 to April 2017 were administered orally AM (425 mg/d) as primary treatment and observed their progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR), as well as related adverse events. RESULTS: Efficacy was evaluable in 30 cases, with median PFS (mPFS) 3.75 months (95% CI 0.648-6.852), ORR 20%, and DCR 73.33%. The main adverse reactions included hypertension (52.94%), hand-foot syndrome (52.94%), proteinuria (44.12%), and fatigue (41.18%); no drug-related death occurred. The efficacy correlation analysis showed that Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) 0-1 (p=0.008) combined with chemotherapy (p=0.009) were the factors that extended PFS, and combined chemotherapy (p=0.040, HR=3.052, 95% CI 1.052- 8.858) was an independent prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS: AM has good therapeutic efficacy in treating aNSCLC patients after chemotherapy failure. The side effects can be controlled and it is worth testing it in large-scale clinical studies.