Cohort Study of EGFR-TKIs Combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Single EGFR-TKIs for Advanced NSCLC (Non-small Cell Lung Cancer)

Objective To explore the curative effect of epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKIs) combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) versus single EGFR-TKIs for Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods A total of 59 NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation were divided (2:1) into treatment group and control group. Patients in treatment group (39 cases) take EGFR-TKIs plus TCM and control group (20 cases) take EGFR-TKIs. Analysis the progression-free survival (PFS), disease control rate (DCR) and treatment-related adverse events of two groups. Results The DCR of the treatment group and control group was 94.1% and 84.2% respectively (P=0.24). In the total population, PFS was 12.1 months in treatment group and 9.1 months in control grouphazard ratio (HR) 0.46; 95%CI 0.23-0.9; P=0.025. Among patients with exon 19 deletion (19-del), PFS between treatment group and control group was 10.5 months and 9.5 months respectively (P=0.17). For patients with exon Leu858Arg point mutation (L858R), PFS was significantly longer with treatment group than withcontrol group (median 13.2 months vs. 7.8 months; HR 0.32, 95%CI 0.10-0.97; P=0.046). Grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events were less common withtreatment-group (8.33%) than control group (15.00%) (P=0.65). Conclusion For NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation, EGFR-TKIs combined with TCM has a certain effect to prolong PFS, especially for the patients with L858R.