Safe and successful treatment with afatinib in three postoperative non-small cell lung cancer patients with recurrences following gefitinib/erlotinib-induced hepatotoxicity

Abstract

Background: Gefitinib and/or erlotinib-induced hepatotoxicity sometimes lead to treatment failure in EGFR mutation-positive patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), even though the therapeutic effect is evident. Cases: Here, we report three postoperative NSCLC patients with recurrences who experienced severe hepatotoxicity while receiving gefitinib and/or erlotinib treatment but could be safely switched to afatinib treatment. Conclusion: Afatinib could be a well-tolerated EGFR-TKI that could be chosen for its relatively low hepatotoxicity, which is attributable to its having a different metabolic mechanism compared to other EGFR-TKIs. J. Med. Invest. 63: 149-151, February, 2016