@article {8015,
	title = {Treatment of non-small cell lung cancer with gefitinib ({\textquoteright}lressa{\textquoteright}, ZD1839): The Greek experience with a compassionate-use program},
	journal = {Anti-Cancer Drugs},
	volume = {16},
	year = {2005},
	note = {Cited By :7Export Date: 21 February 2017},
	month = {2005},
	pages = {191 - 198},
	abstract = {This is a retrospective analysis of 150 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who had failed prior treatment or were unfit for chemotherapy and were treated with oral gefitinib ({\textquoteright}lressa{\textquoteright}, ZD1839; AstraZeneca) 250 mg/day. Thirty-two patients who received gefitinib for 3 weeks or less were not included in the analysis. For the remaining 118 evaluable patients, the mean age was 63.1 years; most patients had received prior chemotherapy (97.5\%), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status scores 0-2 (97.4\%) and stage IV disease (64.4\%). The majority were symptomatic (84.6\%). Disease control was observed in 30 patients (25.4\%), of whom five had a partial response and 25 had stable disease; 18 (15.3\%) were not evaluable. Median duration of treatment was 29.9 weeks in responding patients and 11.5 in patients with progressive disease (p<0.0001). Median overall survival was 7.3 months (15.2 months for disease control) and median progression-free survival was 3.2 months. Gefitinib was well tolerated, with grade 3/4 skin rash and diarrhea seen in 2.5 and 4.2\% of patients, respectively. Clinical benefit was evaluated using questionnaires before and following treatment with gefitinib. In 82 patients with completed questionnaires, evaluation revealed symptom improvement in 40.1\% and improvement in general feeling in 31.4\%. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) analysis found that efficacy did not correlate with tumor EGFR overexpression. Therefore, in this retrospective analysis, gefitinib treatment provided disease control in 25\% of patients who derived significant palliative benefit. {\textcopyright} 2005 Lippincott Williams \& Wilkins.},
	keywords = {Clinical benefit, Epidermal growth factor receptor, Expanded access program, Gefitinib, Non-small cell lung cancer},
	url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-13844298864\&doi=10.1097\%2f00001813-200502000-00011\&partnerID=40\&md5=f3faea07f7bd56d5364af8b7c0dca28a},
	author = {Razis, E. and Skarlos, D. and Briasoulis, E. and Dimopoulos, M. and Fountzilas, G. and Lambropoulos, S. and Rigatos, S. and Kopterides, P. and Efstathiou, H. and Tzamakou, E. and Bakoyannis, C. and Pectasides, D. and Makatsoris, T. and Varthalitis, G. and Papadopoulos, S. and Kosmidis, P.}
}
