Dr. Li Reviews Afatinib Data From the LUX-Lung 3 Trial

Tianhong (Tina) Li, MD, PhD, assistant professor, co-director, Phase I Program, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses results from the LUX-Lung 3 trial that examined afatinib as a first-line treatment for patients with EGFR-positive advanced lung adenocarcinoma.

In the trial, 345 patients were randomized 2:1 to receive afatinib or pemetrexed plus cisplatin. The trial found that treatment with afatinib led to a significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) of 11.1 months compared to 6.9 months (HR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.43—0.78; P < .0004).

Li points out that the most impressive results came from patients with common EGFR mutations (Del19/L858R). In these patients, the median PFS in the afatinib arm was 13.6 months compared to 6.9 months (HR = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.34—0.65; P < .0001).